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Dougherty triumphs in Links Championship

07/10/2007

Englishman Nick Dougherty survived a scare to win the Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland by two strokes.

The 25-year-old clinched his second victory on the European Tour with a final round of 71 to finish on 18-under.

Justin Rose finished second on 16-under while Irish rookie Rory McIlroy (68) finished third on 15-under in only his second Tour event.

Starting the final round three strokes ahead of his rivals, Dougherty made a disastrous start with bogeys on the first two holes.

Dougherty recovered with three successive birdies starting from the fifth but saw his lead vanish after a blistering start from Ernie Els.

The South African, who finished joint sixth place on 13-under, had moved level with Dougherty after the 15th but then triple-bogeyed the 16th to see his hopes of victory destroyed.

Despite bogeying the 17th, Dougherty clinched victory on the final hole to leap to the top of the Ryder Cup points table.

The Englishman, who pockets a winners' cheque for £392,368, said his victory would be life changing.

"It's changed the perspective of this year; it's changed obviously where I am in the world, where I am with my own personal goals in my career and what I've done," Dougherty said.

"The way I dealt with the start today, I didn't have those attributes, you know, ten months ago, and I think I've learned from the errors.

"And thankfully the errors have been in events that haven't been as important as this one, and so it's nice for me to get it right in the right place.

"So, you know, it is a relief, though, you're right. It's feels like it's been a long time since I've won Singapore, many opportunities not taken and many squandered. So it's nice to be on the receiving end of a trophy again."