Cevaer's eagles earn him Spanish Open
Cevaer holed his 137-yard second shot to the opening hole of yesterday's final round and then repeated the trick on the 16th to overhaul long-term leader Ricardo Gonzalez who looked set to claim back-to-back victories following his Seville Open win seven days ago when he led by three shots with three holes to play.
But moments after Cevaer pitched in on the 349-yard 16th the Argentinian drove out of bounds on the same hole, and after driving through the green with his second ball, three-putted to run up a double bogey six.
Cevaer then had to save par after going through the back of the 18th to stay one shot ahead and watch as Gonzalez, Swede Peter Hedblom and overnight leader David Park all failed to birdie the last to force a play-off.
Cevaer's final round of 69 gave him a nine under par total of 271, the winner's cheque for £183,000 and a two-year tour exemption, Gonzalez, Hedblom and Park sharing second place on eight under.
"It's fabulous and I'm just really happy that my perseverance has paid off," said Cevaer, who was world junior champion aged 17 and won the prestigious PAC-10 championship while gaining a psychology degree at Stanford University in the California.
Cevaer broke his right elbow while snowboarding in January 2002, an injury which meant he could only play six events that season.
He added: "This means a great deal because I can be more relaxed and be really confident in investing all my efforts and work into my game.
"It was frustrating to play seven tournaments this season, make five cuts, and still be 130th on the Order of Merit but you have to be patient."
That patience has certainly been rewarded and Cevaer is now ninth on the money list and 17th on the Ryder Cup points list.
Gonzalez, who would have been the first player to win back-to-back events since Vijay Singh in 2001, moved up to eighth on the Order of Merit.
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