Montgomerie comes from behind to seal Ryder place

Colin Montgomerie endured a nerve-wracking wait before sealing his Ryder Cup place in style by claiming a third Volvo Scandinavian Masters title here yesterday.

Montgomerie fired a final round 70 for a one-stroke victory over Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter to claim the £184,000 first prize and 300,000 Ryder Cup points.

The Scot won by nine shots when the tournament was last held at the Barseback course two years ago and carved out a four shot lead at one stage on the final day before bogeys at the last two holes gave him a few anxious moments.

The defending champion Westwood got within a shot of the man he replaced as European No 1 with a birdie on the 16th, missed a chance to draw level on the 17th and could only par the last when a birdie would have forced a play-off.

Poulter then rolled in his only birdie of the day from 20 feet on the 18th to claim a share of second alongside his playing partner with five players a shot further back on 12 under, including Warren Bennett, continuing his good form seven days after he lost out in a play-off to Bernhard Langer in the Dutch Open.

"I didn't think 70 would be good enough," conceded Montgomerie, who admitted at the start of the week that his Cup place was not secure. "I would have thought it would only be good enough for third or fourth but it was more difficult out there than we thought.

"I made a mess of 17 and 18 and relaxed too early but that was OK, I was far enough ahead – it worked out OK.

"I'm delighted to win again having had to beat Lee Westwood's score by two shots at the start of the day because he's back playing well again.

"That's me safe for the Ryder Cup which is nice and it's a good result for Sam as last week's win by Bernhard was. It's also great for Lee to be playing as well and it's taking shape." Montgomerie's win, 10 years after his first Scandinavian Masters title, was his second of the season following his Irish Open triumph five weeks ago.

It was his 26th European Tour title, which took him to sixth in the cup standings. Westwood moved up to fourth and Poulter climbed from 20th to 12th.

Westwood and Poulter could both only manage closing rounds of level par 72, but Westwood in particular was not overly disappointed having at least shown he had emerged from a worrying slump that saw him miss four of the last six cuts.

"I'm quite pleased even though I missed some short putts, from two feet for par on the ninth and three feet for birdie on the 12th, and you can't afford to do that," the 28-year-old said.

"I didn't get too lucky with a couple of lies. When I hit it off line I was severely penalised but I only made four bogeys all week which is better than it has been."

Westwood will now have a week off ahead of the USPGA Championship having played 12 of the last 13 events, while Poulter will play in the Wales Open starting on Thursday as he seeks more Ryder Cup points.

Montgomerie had trailed overnight leaders Westwood and Poulter by a shot and after a bogey on the third was followed by a Westwood birdie minutes later on the same hole, actually trailed by three shots.

But the damage was swiftly repaired with birdies on the fourth and fifth and Montgomerie made the decisive move with three birdies in four holes from the 11th.

A wayward drive cost him a shot at the 17th and when he failed to get up and down from a greenside bunker at the last, what had been a four-shot cushion had all but disappeared.

Westwood could still force a play-off with a birdie at either of the last two holes but missed from 15ft on the 17th and pulled his approach to the last into the crowd and had to settle for par.