Indian Jeev Milkha Singh won the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open after beating Italian Francesco Molinari in a play-off at Castle Stuart.
But it was home hope Marc Warren who suffered the biggest disappointment having blown a three-shot lead over the closing stretch.
Singh, who also qualifies for The Open, overcame the brother of 2010 champion Edoardo with a 12-foot birdie putt at the first hole of their play-off, leaving a stunned Warren joint third with Swede Alex Noren one shot back.
The 31-year-old Glaswegian double-bogeyed the 15th, then bogeyed the next two for a one-under-par 71.
Singh had set an early target of 17 under with a 67 and overnight leader Molinari then forced sudden death by holing a nine-foot par putt on the last for a 72.
Warren, whose collapse also saw him miss out on a place at the Open, said: "I might need a little help to get to sleep tonight."
Asked if devastated was the right word to describe how he felt, the 31-year-old Rangers fan managed a smile and replied: "Not quite yet. I am sure it will.
"It's going to be disappointing watching The Open (an event the World Cup winner has failed to qualify for 10 times). I had it in my hands."
After playing the first 14 holes in a brilliant five under par in the first windy conditions of the tournament it all started to go horribly wrong on the 423-yard 15th.
He faced a 15-foot par putt after finding rough off the tee, but three-putted it for a double bogey six.
His next drive found gorse and after a penalty drop led to a bogey five, then he chipped far too strongly on the short 17th and let yet another shot go.
Suddenly he needed to birdie the par five last to be in the play-off, but into the wind he needed three to find the green and then missed from 25 feet.
Noren was equally gutted minutes earlier as he had taken a bogey six there to finish one behind Singh.
Molinari, who started with a course record 62 and led after the second and third rounds as well, required a closing birdie to win and so emulate his brother Edoardo.
But he left himself having to hole from nine feet to keep his title hopes alive. He made that, but he could not match Singh's four when they played the hole again.
Singh was assured of the Open spot going into sudden death because Molinari was already exempt for Royal Lytham.
It will be only his second appearance in the event. He missed the cut at Carnoustie five years ago.
"I just love links golf," Singh said, although he had a different opinion when he first experienced it as a 16-year-old in 1988.
That was for the qualifying rounds of the British amateur championship at Royal Porthcawl and also Pyle and Kenfig. He shot 87 and 84.
"I thought 'My God, this is tough'. I wasn't used to wearing raingear," he said.
Singh's father Milkha was known as "The Flying Sikh", most famous for losing out on an Olympic 400 metres medal in a photo-finish in Rome in 1960.
A Bollywood film is currently being made about his life called "Go Milkha Go", but on the final day in the Highlands it was a case of "Go Jeev Go".
He birdied four of the first six holes, then added another on the 363-yard 10th and parred in.
It looked like three-putting the 337-yard 16th after driving the green and leaving a 14-foot attempt on the last short of the hole would cost him.
But then came Warren's collapse.
Molinari finished runner-up for the second week running. Victory would have taken him from 10th to second in the Ryder Cup standings.
He is still looking good for a second successive cap, though. He is up to fourth.
World number one and defending champion Luke Donald stays sixth on the points table after finishing 16th with, among others, Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington and Martin Laird.
Singh added: "I was just enjoying a cup of tea and some chocolate cake and watching it on television - and suddenly got excited.
"I think God has been kind. I think the field came back and I'm very fortunate."
His second Open comes after some worrying back trouble.
"It's been really tough, but I just stuck in there and worked on the physical side. Everything has paid off."
He earned £416,660, while Warren had to settle for "only" £140,750.
"You don't get many chances to win your national Open, but I would not say it was a mental loss. I've won before and know what it takes to win."
On coming off the course Warren did not even know that Singh was also in need of an Open spot, but he was soon given the news of the double whammy.
Warren was trying to become the first Scottish winner of the title. Although Colin Montgomerie's name is on the list of previous champions, his 1999 victory actually came in a tournament called the Standard Life Loch Lomond.
Only afterwards was that event absorbed into the national championship.
Collated final round scores & totals (Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):
271 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 66 70 68 67 (Jeev won at 1st Play-off hole), Francesco Molinari (Ita) 62 70 67 72
272 Marc Warren 68 69 64 71, Alexander Noren (Swe) 66 66 70 70
273 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 65 72 64 72, Matthew Baldwin 67 68 71 67, Thomas Levet (Fra) 68 69 66 70
274 Peter Whiteford 71 65 66 72, Phillip Price 68 69 68 69, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 69 69 66 70
275 Anders Hansen (Den) 68 67 65 75, Shane Lowry 66 69 69 71, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 64 71 68 72, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 68 69 67 71, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind) 67 67 69 72
276 Phil Mickelson (USA) 73 64 65 74, Andy Sullivan 69 69 69 69, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 66 72 67 71, Martin Laird 68 70 64 74, Luke Donald 67 68 68 73, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 67 70 66 73, Padraig Harrington 69 69 67 71, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 65 71 69 71
277 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 71 68 66 72, Stephen Gallacher 68 72 65 72, Richard Green (Aus) 68 69 67 73, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 69 70 66 72, Peter Lawrie 66 69 68 74
278 Andrew Marshall 66 72 68 72, Alastair Forsyth 71 68 68 71, Marcel Siem (Ger) 71 69 69 69, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 67 68 69 74, Simon Dyson 68 69 67 74, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 71 68 66 73, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 68 70 67 73
280 Andrew Johnston 69 70 67 74, Chris Wood 68 72 67 73, Robert Coles 66 71 71 72, Matteo Manassero (Ita) 69 64 73 74, David Horsey 68 72 67 73, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 68 69 72 71, David Lynn 71 67 71 71, Thorbjorn Olesen (Den) 70 65 73 72, David Dixon 68 71 69 72, Jbe Kruger (Rsa) 72 68 68 72, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 70 70 67 73
281 Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 69 71 70 71, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 70 68 65 78, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 69 71 69 72, Oscar Floren (Swe) 67 72 71 71, Lee Slattery 71 67 73 70
282 Anthony Wall 67 68 72 75, Andrea Pavan (Ita) 70 67 69 76, Ernie Els (Rsa) 70 70 68 74, Tim Sluiter (Ned) 73 66 72 71, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 73 67 70 72, George Coetzee (Rsa) 69 69 72 72
283 Steve Webster 69 68 75 71, Rhys Davies 72 68 68 75, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 68 72 72 71
284 Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa) 69 70 72 73, Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 72 68 72 72, Joel Sjoholm (Swe) 70 68 71 75, Daniel Denison 70 70 71 73, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 68 67 76 73, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 69 71 76 68, Steven O'Hara 69 71 69 75
285 Ross Fisher 68 70 69 78, David Howell 70 67 77 71, Branden Grace (Rsa) 72 68 73 72, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 68 72 69 76
287 Alex Haindl (Rsa) 70 68 69 80, James Morrison 72 67 74 74
288 Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 69 64 75 80, Jack Mcdonald 70 70 68 80
289 Richard Wallis 72 68 73 76
290 Tjaart Van Der Walt (Rsa) 70 70 73 77
