McDowell triumphs in Wales

Newport - Britain's Graeme McDowell came from four strokes behind to clinch the Wales Open title on Sunday over Europe's Ryder Cup course for October's clash with the United States.

McDowell's fifth European Tour victory came with a blistering final round eight-under-par 63 at Celtic Manor for a four-round 15-under 269 aggregate, three strokes better than fellow Briton Rhys Davies.

As he did last week in Madrid, Northern Irishman McDowell, 30, came flying out of the blocks, claiming six birdies in the first eight holes to storm past struggling overnight leader Marcel Siem of Germany.

Siem, leading the field by three strokes after round three and McDowell by four, lost the tournament as early as the short third. Here he dumped two balls in the lake to run up a quadruple-bogey seven to plummet down the field.

Last week's runner-up Davies became McDowell's only realistic hurdle as the Welshman delighted the home gallery with a sizzling round of his own. The 25-year-old carded a 62 to better the Twenty Ten course record by a stroke.

Davies, second to Luke Donald in the Madrid Masters, mounted his challenge largely by virtue of two eagle-twos. At the eighth he holed out from 160 yards with his eight-iron second shot and when he ran in a 30ft putt on the reachable par-four 15th he was only a stroke behind McDowell.

McDowell responded with birdies on 10 and 11 as he refused to loosen his grip on the 350,940 points on offer for first prize which took him to 10th on Europe's Ryder Cup table.

Donald followed up his Madrid title by taking third place, five shots behind the winner.

Wales Open scores:

269 Graeme McDowell (Britain) 72 70 64 63
272 Rhys Davies (Britain) 67 73 70 62
274 Luke Donald (Britain) 75 65 69 65
275 Robert Rock (Britain) 68 71 70 66
Edoardo Molinari (Italy) 67 71 70 67
Stephen Gallacher (Britain) 70 73 63 69
276 Marcel Siem (Germany) 69 67 66 74
277 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain) 70 68 70 69
279 Niclas Fasth (Sweden) 69 72 67 71
Richard McEvoy (Britain) 67 71 69 72
Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) 69 68 68 74
280 Marc Warren (Britain) 71 71 75 63
Martin Kaymer (Germany) 70 74 69 67
Nicolas Colsaerts (Belgium) 74 71 68 67
David Lynn (Britain) 72 72 66 70
Maarten Lafeber (Netherlands) 70 68 69 73
Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spain) 68 71 66 75
281 Bradley Dredge (Britain) 66 73 72 70
Simon Dyson (Britain) 71 70 65 75
282 Louis Oosthuizen (South Africa) 72 72 70 68
Peter Whiteford (Britain) 72 72 69 69
Alvaro Quiros (Spain) 71 72 69 70
Peter Lawrie (Ireland) 72 67 72 71
Raphael Jacquelin (France) 67 73 71 71
Damien McGrane (Ireland) 69 76 66 71
Soren Hansen (Denmark) 68 70 69 75
283 Richard Bland (Britain) 74 71 71 67
Gareth Maybin (Britain) 69 73 73 68
Anton Haig (South Africa) 72 71 72 68
Richie Ramsay (Britain) 68 72 69 74
284 Ricardo Gonzalez (Argentina) 73 72 71 68
Jose Manuel Lara (Spain) 69 70 71 74
Jarmo Sandelin (Sweden) 71 69 70 74
285 Benjamin Hebert (France) 73 71 72 69
Eirik Tage Johansen (Norway) 68 74 73 70
Scott Hend (Australia) 71 72 72 70
Soren Kjeldsen (Denmark) 72 72 70 71
Gary Boyd (Britain) 71 70 70 74
286 Alexander Noren (Sweden) 70 74 73 69
Gregory Bourdy (France) 72 72 72 70
Darren Clarke (Britain) 69 71 73 73
Jeppe Huldahl (Denmark) 72 71 70 73
Shane Lowry (Ireland) 70 73 69 74
Andrew Dodt (Australia) 66 70 75 75
James Kingston (South Africa) 70 71 66 79
287 Jamie Donaldson (Britain) 71 72 76 68
Barry Lane (Britain) 71 72 76 68
Julien Guerrier (France) 71 72 76 68
Phillip Price (Britain) 70 74 73 70
Pablo Martin (Spain) 71 73 73 70
Colin Montgomerie (Britain) 70 70 76 71
Ignacio Garrido (Spain) 72 71 73 71
Alastair Forsyth (Britain) 71 73 69 74
Danny Lee (New Zealand) 68 75 70 74
Chris Wood (Britain) 65 76 70 76
288 Clodomiro Carranza (Argentina) 70 75 75 68
Pablo Larrazabal (Spain) 69 76 72 71
James Ruth (Britain) 70 74 70 74
Patrik Sjoland (Sweden) 72 72 68 76
Francesco Molinari (Italy) 70 73 68 77
289 Simon Thornton (Ireland) 68 75 73 73
Garry Houston (Britain) 73 71 72 73
290 Thomas Aiken (South Africa) 72 71 81 66
Peter Hedblom (Sweden) 73 72 71 74
Ross McGowan (Britain) 70 73 70 77
291 Benn Barham (Britain) 70 72 78 71
Chris Gane (Britain) 70 75 74 72
Oliver Wilson (Britain) 70 71 75 75
292 Mark Foster (Britain) 72 73 75 72
Graeme Storm (Britain) 74 71 75 72
295 Marco Ruiz (Paraguay) 71 71 78 75
298 Francois Delamontagne (France) 68 74 81 75
Oliver Fisher (Britain) 74 68 78 78
304 Julien Quesne (France) 71 73 78 82