If history is anything to go by then another dramatic finish to the 34rd BMW International Open is in store.
Since its inaugural edition in 1989, a play-off has been required on ten occasions to determine the winner at the longest-spanning professional golf tournament in Germany.
Of those, seven have taken place at this week’s venue - Golfclub München Eichenried. In fact, two of the last three stagings have gone to extra holes.
Emotional Li returns to winner's circle
Most recently, 12 months ago, Li Haotong sealed a stunning wire-to-wire victory by holing a 40-foot birdie putt on the first play-off hole to defeat Thomas Pieters.
It prompted an emotional reaction from the Chinese star who had gone four years without a Tour win, and he later revealed he had contemplated quitting the game ten months earlier.
He started the final round with a three-shot lead, but it was slowly reduced until a missed birdie putt on the par-five 568-yard right-to-left 18th hole in regulation meant he and Pieters were tied at 22 under.
On their return back to the 18th tee, Li skirted with the water short and right of the green with his second shot before he later thinned his third shot across the two-tier green.
“When I hit that chip, I thought I had given away another chance,” said Li in the immediate aftermath of his victory. “I can’t believe it has happened.
“Ten months ago, I had decided to literally quit golf. Then somehow, where I am now … it is golf and hard to describe. I have no idea how I won this playoff. It was an up-and-down battle.”
Pavan prevails in play-off with Fitzpatrick
Three years earlier, Andrea Pavan celebrated victory on the same hole as he outlasted future Major winner Matt Fitzpatrick to claim his second DP World Tour title.
The Italian, who had set the pace on day one, began the final round four strokes off the lead but carded a bogey-free six-under-par 66, while Fitzpatrick shot a 69.
Playing the 18th second time around, Pavan recovered from sending his second shot from rough to rough as he struck a wedge to a few feet for a birdie.
When Fitzpatrick was unable to get up and down from a bunker, two-time European Challenge Tour and Qualifying School graduate Pavan was able to celebrate victory.
"It's amazing," he said, having not held the lead in the final round until he hit his final putt in regulation play. "I thought I had a chance starting the day.”
Almost a decade ago in 2013 at Golf Club Gut Lärchenhof, Fabrizio Zanotti made history by becoming the first Paraguayan to win on the DP World Tour after three runner-up finishes.
A flawless closing 65 vaulted him into contention, with two-time champion Henrik Stenson, Rafa Cabrera Bello – who secured his place in the four-man decider with a birdie-eagle-birdie finish – and Gregory Havret also finishing on 19 under par.
Havret was the first casualty at the second extra hole when his rivals all made birdies and the quality of the play-off increased when the remaining three all hit the green with their drives on the way to birdies.
Cabrera Bello dropped out of the play-off on their return to the par-four 18th when he found the water with his approach shot.
Stenson then followed suit when he again tried to reach the 17th with his drive to leave Zanotti to claim his breakthrough success after crucially staying dry with his tee shot.
“I've been working a lot and trying to build my confidence to get to this moment and finally I'm here,” he said.
Larrazábal wins Spanish duel
The fourth play-off in the last 12 years at this event was back in Munich as Pablo Larrazábal won the first of his two BMW International Open titles in 2011.
In a marathon finale, Larrazábal outlasted fellow Spaniard Sergio Garcia at the fifth play-off hole to earn what was then his second Tour title after a three-year wait since his first.
They first played the 18th twice more - and birdied it both times - and then the 12th and 17th, two par threes, could not separate them.
Larrazábal, who went on to win the event for a second time four years later, was much the further from the cup in two on their return to the 18th, but he was the one to celebrate an emotional win as he got down in two.
"Last week we lost my grandad, the captain of the family, and this is for him," he said.
Romero snatches surprise victory
But a play-off is not always required for a dramatic conclusion to this tournament as we saw when Andrés Romero made a return to the winner's circle.
The Argentine birdied seven of his 11 holes to earn a one-shot victory over three players in second place in 2017.
Playing as a tournament invite, and in his first regular Tour appearance since 2017, he signed for a 65 after setting the target at 17 under and watched as nobody could match that total.
It was his first Tour title since the Deutsche Bank Players' Championship of Europe in 2007.
"I'm really happy, after ten years winning on the European Tour, especially here in Germany. I'm really, really happy," he said.
With a field littered with top German and international stars, intrigue is unlikely to be short in supply and it will be no surprise if the battle for the coveted trophy reaches another dramatic climax on Sunday.
