With the event reduced to 54 holes due to lengthy fog delays at Germany’s Golf Resort Bad Griesbach, Levy had a seemingly unassailable four-stroke lead at 17 under after 36 bogey-free holes.

But, despite birdies at the 2nd and 3rd holes, some loose tee shots and nerves led to three bogies before he reached the 6th tee. His playing partner Fisher was out in a bogey-free 31 and had made up four strokes as they stood on the 10th tee.

Levy’s ball-striking improved on the inward nine and carded four birdies in six holes but Fisher could not be shaken. When the Frenchman bogied the 16th, Fisher birdied to move within one stroke.

When Levy closed with another bogey, his fifth of the round, the pair were locked at the top of the leaderboard on 19 under and had to head back to the 18th tee for a play-off.

Alexander Levy poses with the trophy. PHOTO: Stuart Franklin/Getty Images.

Both men made pars on the first extra hole, but it was the 26-year-old Levy who grabbed his chance when he holed a slick downhill birdie putt from 18-feet for a winning birdie.

The victory was Levy’s third on the European Tour and marked a successful return to form after being sidelined with injury during the northern summer.

His form since returning four weeks ago has been very good and he was confident heading into the European Open after recording a tie for seventh at the Italian Open last week.

"It's unbelievable," Levy said. "On the 18th putt I saw the line and I said to my caddy, 'I've got it'. I felt good, I felt the speed and I putted it very quickly.

"It's too good to have this feeling after two years of no wins, it's very nice.

FINAL LEADERBOARD

"It's tough to say that it's the best one (win). I have a very nice feeling and I worked a lot the last few weeks to have this one. I was close last week but didn't play good on Sunday and this week I managed my things to have this trophy in my hands.

"I didn't play really good on the front nine. I was thinking about the score and not on my own game. I stayed patient and I started to play really good on the back nine."

"Hats off to Alex, it's always going to be tough against a great player like him who closed out in Portugal very well," Fisher said. "He got off to a little shaky start so myself and Michael (Jonzon) just needed to put some pressure on Alex from the start.

"I felt like I played pretty flawless on the front side, kept it going on the back. All you can do is hit good putts, I didn't leave one short today which is a positive sign."

Richard Green has found some form in his past two outings. PHOTO: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images.

Swedish pair Robert Karlsson (65) and Michael Jonzon (68) finished three shots out of the play-off at 16 under.

Victorian Richard Green continued his good recent form to finish T13 at 12 under after a final round 66. It was his seventh consecutive round in the 60s following on from his T16 performance at the Italian Open last week.

West Australian Jason Scrivener was a further shot back after a bogey-free 67 to close out the tournament. It was the 27-year-old’s best finish on the European Tour since his T7 at the Mauritius Open in May.