Scotland's Marc Warren produced a nerveless final round to win his first European Tour title for seven years at the inaugural Made in Denmark event yesterday.
Warren began the day tied for the lead with Bradley Dredge of Wales, but carded a closing 68 before massive crowds at Himmerland Golf Resort to finish nine under par.
The 33-year-old from Glasgow finished two shots clear of Dredge, with England's Phillip Archer three shots further back in third and home favourite Thomas Bjorn joint fourth with English pair Oliver Fisher and Eddie Pepperell.
Warren, who had suffered a number of near misses since the second of his Tour wins in 2007, made the ideal start with birdies on the third and fourth and then hit his approach to within inches of the hole on the eighth.
That seemed certain to give him a five-shot lead, only for Dredge to hole from 18ft after three bogeys and one birdie in the previous seven holes.
Warren then dropped his first shot of the day after a wayward approach to the ninth and the gap was down to two when Dredge, whose last Tour win came in Switzerland in 2006, birdied the 11th.
Warren responded with a birdie from six feet on the 12th, aided by seeing Dredge narrowly miss on the same line from further away. But Dredge refused to throw in the towel.
The 41-year-old reduced the gap again with a birdie from four feet on the 13th and looked in prime position to get closer still on the next. But Warren holed from 50ft across the green for an unlikely birdie and Dredge did well to hole from 10ft to remain two behind.
Warren missed from just six feet for birdie on the par-three 16th, but then saw Dredge miss his par putt from even closer after recovering from a greenside bunker.
Dredge hit back with a birdie on the 17th to get within two shots again, but found an awkward lie on the edge of a fairway bunker and was unable to apply any more pressure as Warren held on for the win.
Ireland’s Gareth Maybin finished best of the Irish in ninth at one under par after a 73 while Damien McGrane finished 28th on two over after a closing 70. Meanwhile, Rowan Lester failed by a whisker yesterday to become the first Irish winner of the British Boys Open Amateur Championship since Ronan Rafferty way back in 1979.
The 18-year-old Hermitage star fell at the final hurdle at Prestwick on the Ayrshire coast, beaten on the home green in the 36-hole title decider by Sweden’s Oskar Bergqvist having been one up with six to play.
The Swede had got to the final courtesy of a 19th hole success over defending champion Ewen Ferguson who was attempting to become the first player for 30 years to record back-to-back triumphs while Lester overcame Welsh international Tim Harry by 4 and 2.
