FIRST WIN IN 4 YEARS FOR THE GREAT DANE.

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 powerful 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.He reduced it to one shot until the former Dubai Desert Classic winner,Green bogeyed the par four 14th as Bjorn birdied and when Björn's tee shot went within five feet at the par three 15th,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 capped an incredible return to form - when he arrived at The Celtic Manor Wales Open 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 and he added a winner's cheque for €166,660 with his success in Portugal.He climbed into the top 40 on The Race to Dubai as a result.

Damien Mc Grane who had 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 72 to 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.