First win in 4 years for the Great Dane in Portugal.

Thomas Björn returned to winning ways in fine style with a comprehensive five shot victory at the Estoril Open de Portugal.

The Dane saw off a fine challenge from Richard Green with a closing 68 for a 23 under par aggregate total of 265.

Australian left-hander Green had nibbled away at the two-time Ryder Cup winner's lead and had reduced it to one shot until the former Dubai Desert Classic winner Green bogeyed the par four 14th as his playing partner birdied and when Björn's tee shot went within five feet at the par three next Green could only respond by hitting his into a bunker and dropping another shot.

That saw Björn,pull five clear and although he bogeyed the 16th he managed to avoid a nervous finish.

It caps an incredible return to form over the last ten days - when he arrived at The Celtic Manor Wales Open last week Björn had missed six successive cuts on The European Tour and was outside the top 200 on The Official World Golf Ranking.

A top ten finish in Newport gave him the confidence to book an Open Championship spot at Sunningdale on Monday and he adds a winner's cheque for €166,660 with his success at Penha Longa Golf club, climbing into the top 40 on The Race to Dubai as a result.

Damien Mc Grane who has been struggling most of this season got himself into 3rd position on 18 under par after 13 holes.The former China Open champion ran into all sorts of trouble over the closing holes dropping 5 shots in 5 holes to drop into 5th place on 13 under par.

On the other hand it was the opposite for Darren Clarke.He looked to be going home after an opening 75.He completely turned his game around and after scores of 67,68 and the lowest score of the closing round 66,he jumped into a share of 6th place on 12 under par.

It was also a good week for Gary Murphy.Murphy had only made 2 cuts all year and his confidence was very low.Even though he slipped up over the weekend with a 73 and 72to finish on 3 under par he was happy with his 43rd place and can now look forward to the next tournament.

Newcastle resident Simon Thornton was unlucky to miss the one under par cut mark by one shot after rounds of 73 and 71.

Irish Results
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5th: Damien Mc Grane -13 €42,400.
6th: Darren Clarke -12 €32,500.
43rd:Gary Murphy -3 €5,200.

Missed Cut -1 143.

Simon Thornton Par 144.