Spanish star Rafa Cabrera-Bello will head to this week’s Open Championship in buoyant mood after bagging the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open at Dundonald Links.

The 33-year-old seized his third European Tour in a sudden-death shoot-out with Callum Shinkwin after the English youngster had allowed a maiden Tour title to slip for his grasp with a bogey on the 72nd hole.

With Sergio Garcia winning the Masters and Jon Rahm underlining his growing stature with victory in last week’s Irish Open, Cabrera-Bello has been pushed into the shadows by the exploits of his compatriots.

But the Ryder Cup ace served a timely notice of his intent ahead of the the third Major of the year with a stunning course-record 64 which saw him barge up the field with a 13-under 275 to set the clubhouse target.

It was Shinkwin’s to lose, however, and the timing of his only dropped shot of the day could not have been worse.

Leading by one standing on the 18th tee, a par on the closing hole would have given the 24-year-old from Watford a first tour triumph and cheque for almost £900,000 which would have doubled his career earnings.

On the tempting par-5 closing hole, and given his situation, caution perhaps should have been the watchword.

A lay-up, a flick on to the green and a couple of putts? Hardly a grandstand finish but safe, solid and highly effective.

Instead, the former junior boxer went for the knock-out blow and left himself on the ropes. His approach came to rest in a dicey lie on the slope behind the greenside bunker.

After much dithering and deliberating, Shinkwin’s dink to the putting surface rolled back off it. A timorous putt then came to rest about five-feet from the hole.

It was agonising stuff but he still had that one to stumble his way over the finishing line. Perhaps inevitably, his putt for par came up short and he would have to do it all over again down the 18th in the play-off

With a bamboozling sense of déjà vu, Shinkwin clattered his second shot into a similar position behind the sand trap.

Cabrera-Bello, with the calm, calculated precision of a lurking assassin, hit the target. A superbly flighted 3-wood from some 270 yards rolled to within 15-feet to set up what would be a two-putt birdie.

Shinkwin, meanwhile, had nudged his third shot to about seven-feet but another tentative putt sat on the edge and the Scottish crown belonged to Cabrera-Bello.

“I played some of the best golf of my life in that final round and that 3-wood in the play-off qualifies as one of the best shots of my life,” said a jubilant Cabrera-Bello, who was afforded a decent chunk of good fortune from the golfing gods during regulation play when his second shot to the 18th hit one side of the burn and bounced safely over to the other side.

“In the play-off, I just went for it. These are the moments you practice for. I enjoy these pressurised moments. These are what define you.

"I feel a bit for Callum. Obviously it was in his hands and it must have been frustrating for him as I felt he got unlucky with his ball not rolling back to the bunker. Otherwise it would be him sitting here, not me.”

Shinkwin, meanwhile, hadn’t put a foot wrong all day. While Ian Poulter and Andrew Dodt, who joined him in a leading triumvirate after 54 holes, slithered out of the running and eventually finished tied ninth and tied fourth respectively, Shinkwin looked seemingly unflappable as he assumed command with a composed, considered display of front-running golf.

A trio of birdies at the eighth, ninth and 10th bolstered his position of authority and further gains at the 13th and 15th helped to fend off Cabrera-Bello’s menacing advances. It would all unravel for Shinkwin on the last, though.

The consolation for for him was a cheque for almost £600,000 and a place in this week’s Open Championship.