Alvaro Quiros revealed Seve Ballesteros was the inspiration behind his three-shot victory at the Oceanico Portuguese Masters.
The powerful Spaniard picked up the biggest cheque of his career after holding off European Tour Order of Merit leader Robert Karlsson and former Open winner Paul Lawrie at the Victoria Club in Vilamoura.
All Spanish golfing attention has been devoted to the failing health of legend Ballesteros, and Quiros' thoughts, too, were with the 51-year-old.
"My caddy told me that Seve always wanted to beat everybody and today I drew inspiration from thinking about the way he played his golf," said the 25-year-old from Cadiz.
"Seve was and still is an inspiration for all of the Spaniards, particularly when things don't go very straight.
"But with the short game I stopped and remembered him - when he made chips and putts with wonderful recoveries.
"Seve was playing in a different way to the rest of the world. He was something special.
"He was playing more with the heart than the real game and when you think about it, you have two ways to make a birdie.
"The easy way: driver, green and one putt, and the other is one drive - don't know where - a chip and a good putt. That's how I played and Seve sometimes had rounds like that."
Quiros calmly sunk a five-foot birdie putt on the 18th green to finish on 19 under par, three ahead of Lawrie with Karlsson, Ross Fisher and Steve Webster a further shot back.
The Spaniard signalled his ability with victory in the 2007 Dunhill Championship in South Africa but that field could not compare to the one in Vilamoura, which contained six members of the recent European Ryder Cup team.
Karlsson now only leads Padraig Harrington by around Ј246,000 in the money list heading into the Volvo Masters, when victory for the Swede would have almost certainly settled the Order of Merit title.
The lowest score of the final day belonged to Bristol's Chris Wood, who as an amateur finished tied for fifth place to take the Silver Medal in this year's Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.
Having turned pro immediately after that achievement, and this weekend playing in the last of his permitted seven invitations, Wood's 65 produced his first top-10 finish in the paid ranks. However, it left him with a dilemma.
He is now scheduled to attend the second stage of Q School at Jerez in Spain, working towards earning a Tour card for 2009, but his top-10 placing has also earned him the right to play in the coming week's Castellon Masters near Gerona.
The two events run back-to-back and after playing seven of the last nine weeks, his energy levels are running low.
"Q School and getting my card for next year has to be my priority," said Wood. "So I may not go to the Castellon."
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