Back in 1999 the Frenchman took a seven when he needed a six to win, went into a four-hole play-off and lost to Paul Lawrie.

This time he took a penalty drop and made a bogey five which saw Remesy’s par draw him level on 11 under and force a play-off back down the 18th.

Both players found water with their approaches – van de Velde flying the back-left of the green with Remesy coming up short – but Remesy turned up the pressure by hitting his fourth shot to 12 feet.

Van de Velde, faced with a 35-yard pitch out of thick rough over a bunker after his penalty drop, left his ball plugged in the sand, stabbed out to the fringe and chipped past the hole to allow his compatriot to win with a double-bogey six.

It was a devastating finish for the 39-year-old, who dropped off the circuit after two knee operations followed his traumatic loss at the Open.

However, van de Velde can console himself with the fact he is returning to form and his second-place finish earned him a place in the Open at St Andrews next month and secured his playing privileges for next season.

Remesy, who became the first player since Nick Faldo in 1989 to defend the title here, was overjoyed to win again but also paid tribute to his playing partner.

“It is a great moment for golf. It is a great moment for Jean because it is very nice to see him coming back and the crowds were absolutely fantastic,” said Remesy.

“It is a great moment for France and for life and I’m on top because I won but give credit to Jean because he played fantastic today.

“We produced an absolutely fantastic spectacle for the crowds and that is the most important thing.

“We (France) need a winner and fortunately it was me. It is great for me winning last year and a second time is wonderful.

“When I see that trophy coming back in my hands it is great achievement.

A thunderstorm had delayed play for nearly three-and-a-half hours just before the leaders resumed with Eduardo Romero, who broke the course record with his brilliant second-round 62, trying to take over from Ireland's Des Smyth as the circuit's oldest-ever champion.

Smyth was 48 when he lifted the 2001 Madeira Island Open and the player known as El Gato (The Cat) is 51 on July 17, the final day of the Open Championship.

But the round began horribly for the Argentinian when he had three bogeys and a double bogey in the first eight holes.

However, van de Velde, a lowly 709th in the world, had an inspired start with birdies at the first from eight feet and the short second when he holed from a bunker.

Remesy followed him in from 30 feet to remain right on his heels, levelled with a 20-footer on the sixth and then made a 12-foot putt at the long ninth to turn in 33. Van de Velde also birdied there, but it looked like a three-man race at that stage with Soren Hansen also out in 33 to be joint second one behind.

Van de Velde then levelled with a 15-footer at the 12th, while Hansen bogeyed it to drop two back.

A bold play by van de Velde at the par-five 14th – hitting his second shot with a three-wood onto the green – put him in front after he birdied and Remesy, in rough off the tee, missed a 12-foot putt to join his playing partner at 13 under.

At the 15th van de Velde came within inches of finding the water but then almost holed his chip from the fringe, although he dropped back to 12 under at the short next after missing the green.

Remesy bogeyed the 17th after leaving his second short and duffing a run-up shot which left him with a 12-foot par putt which he missed.

The drama then turned to the 18th where van de Velde turned his drive into the edge of the lake and had to declare his ball lost – which was where his problems began.

For Remesy, though, it was another wonderful chapter in a remarkable story. The 41-year-old from Nimes, who lives in the Seychelles, took 10 attempts to come through the qualifying school and paid 12 visits in all before he won the 1999 Estoril Open.

The 1985 French amateur champion had been on the verge of giving up just prior to that.

Ireland’s Stephen browe was tied for 44th on three over par, with Paul McGinley two shots further back, sharing 55th place.

Peter Lawrie finished on eight over par, with Gary Murphy tied for 73rd on nine over par.

Collated Final scores and totals in the European Tour Open de France, Le Golf National, France (Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 71):

Jean-Francois Remesy Wins at 1st Extra Hole

273 Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra) 68 69 67 69, Jean Van de Velde (Fra) 64 70 70 69

276 Soren Hansen (Den) 65 69 71 71

279 Richard Finch 73 70 69 67, Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 67 68 71 73, Peter O’Malley (Aus) 69 68 70 72, Gregory Havret (Fra) 70 70 67 72

280 Eduardo Romero (Arg) 70 62 72 76, Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa) 69 70 70 71, Bradley Dredge 67 73 72 68, Anders Hansen (Den) 67 71 70 72, Jonathan Lomas 65 69 71 75

281 Richard Sterne (Rsa) 67 75 70 69, Philip Golding 69 69 68 75, Stuart Little 71 71 68 71, Nick Dougherty 72 68 69 72

282 Colin Montgomerie 69 72 70 71, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 72 66 75 69, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 68 67 75 72, David Lynn 73 68 70 71

283 Marcel Siem (Ger) 69 68 72 74, Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 71 69 69 74, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 68 72 72 71, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 72 72 69 70, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 69 68 75 71

284 Marc Cayeux (Zim) 68 72 71 73, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 72 71 71 70, Miguel Angel Martin (Spa) 72 70 71 71, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 72 72 66 74, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 68 72 69 75

285 Stephen Gallacher 71 70 71 73, Stephen Dodd 73 70 69 73, Phillip Archer 70 73 69 73, Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 70 73 69 73, Klas Eriksson (Swe) 72 68 71 74, Ben Mason 73 69 73 70, Markus Brier (Aut) 74 70 69 72, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 67 71 75 72

286 John Bickerton 69 71 73 73, Paul Lawrie 71 70 69 76, Garry Houston 67 73 71 75, Miles Tunnicliff 71 69 72 74, Paul Broadhurst 71 72 69 74

287 Stephen Browne (Irl) 68 76 69 74, Mark Roe 69 75 69 74, Steven O’Hara 74 70 75 68, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 68 73 73 73, Brian Davis 71 69 72 75, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 70 74 69 74

288 Alastair Forsyth 71 70 72 75, Mattias Eliasson (Swe) 69 73 72 74, Sven Struver (Ger) 72 72 72 72, Simon Wakefield 71 73 72 72, Brad Kennedy (Aus) 72 71 74 71

289 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 67 74 77 71, Ian Garbutt 72 71 68 78, Raymond Russell 65 77 73 74, Peter Hanson (Swe) 70 72 71 76, Paul McGinley 70 71 73 75, Pierre Fulke (Swe) 72 72 74 71, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 71 73 74 71, David Carter 70 74 69 76, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 70 71 71 77

290 James Kingston (Rsa) 72 71 73 74

291 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 66 73 71 81, Anthony Wall 71 71 71 78, Andrew Marshall 68 74 73 76

292 Peter Lawrie 70 72 73 77, Scott Drummond 69 72 74 77, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 69 74 71 78, Thomas Levet (Fra) 72 72 72 76, Mark Foster 70 70 74 78

293 Jarrod Moseley (Aus) 71 72 76 74, Gary Murphy 75 68 77 73, Costantino Rocca (Ita) 72 71 74 76

294 Kenneth Ferrie 70 73 75 76

295 Terry Price (Aus) 70 71 76 78

296 Eric Moreul (Fra) 70 74 71 81, Richard Bland 70 74 79 73

297 Johan Axgren (Swe) 69 73 75 80

298 Jan Are Larsen (Nor) 73 71 74 80, Brett Rumford (Aus) 69 75 76 78

299 Gordon Brand Jnr 72 71 73 83

300 Niki Zitny (Aut) 67 77 80 76

301 David Drysdale 72 70 80 79.