Nick Dougherty carded a solid 71 in the final round of the Dunhill Links at St Andrews to claim victory over Justin Rose by two strokes.
Dougherty had started the last day with a three-stroke cushion but two early bogeys piled on the pressure. However, the Englishman recovered with three birdies from the 5th hole and held off the likes of Ernie Els and Rose to clinch his second European Tour title.
Although Rose was disappointed not to win, his second-place finish helped him significantly close the gap on Padraig Harrington in the battle for the Order of Merit. Ireland's Rory McIlroy's third place virtually guarantees him a European Tour card for next season while Scotland's Paul Lawrie tied for fourth with Barry Lane of England.
On the other side of the Atlantic Justin Leonard prevailed in a play-off against Jesper Parnevik for the Valero Texas Open. It took three holes in extra time for the American to finally see off the Swedish challenge after both players finished at 19 under par.
Alfred Dunhill Links Championship
-18 N Dougherty (Eng)
-16 J Rose (Eng)
-15 R McIlroy (Eng)
-14 B Lane (Eng)
-14 P Lawrie (Sco)
Valero Texas Open
-19 J Leonard (USA)
-19 J Parnevik (Swe)
-16 D Chopra (Swe)
-16 M Gronberg (Swe)
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