Alex Noren takes the steady route to Welsh title

The 28-year-old's previous win came in Switzerland two years ago after he sank a bunker shot for an eagle four holes from the end.

Noren has now added the Saab Wales Open at the Ryder Cup venue by two strokes from Dane Anders Hansen and Frenchman Gregory Bourdy after a closing 70 containing just two birdies and one mistake.

That came on the driveable 15th when, with confidence high and a three-stroke cushion, he went for the green with a three-wood and saw it go left and kick down a bank into a hazard.

A bogey five brought the gap down to two, but he parred the last three holes for a nine-under-par total of 275.

It completed a dream week that began with him qualifying for the US Open - his first major in America. But Noren's work goes on. Winning the title and 300,000 does not spare him from 36 holes of Open Championship qualifying at Sunningdale today.

"It will be weird, but I will look forward to it," he said.

"My driving has been the best it's ever been. I never really believed I could do well on tough courses, but now we play them all the time.

"I've proved to myself I can hit a lot of greens and not just rely on my short game."

His name follows that of Graeme McDowell on to the trophy - and last year, of course, the Ulsterman went on to capture the US Open as well.

McDowell had hopes of a successful defence when he was in second place behind Noren at halfway, but then came a nightmare Saturday 81 and even an improvement of ten strokes yesterday lifted him only to 30th place.

Noren had resumed one ahead of Hansen and Peter Hanson, but by the seventh green that had swelled to four.

Hansen was the first to fall back, taking a double-bogey seven on the long second after his ball plugged in sand. Hanson went joint top with a ten-foot putt on the fourth, but missed a three-foot opportunity at the next, double-bogeyed the sixth after failing to make it over the water with his approach and then three-putted the next.

Bourdy set the target of seven under with a birdie at the par-five last and Hansen's birdie at the short 17th - a hole that had earlier seen Scot Elliot Saltman hole-in-one for the second time in the week - meant he still had a chance.

But although Noren went over the green in two on the last and then played a poor chip, Hansen was bunkered, came out 18 feet past the flag and both took five.

Johan Edfors, another Swede, eagled the hole to share fourth with Argentina's Ricardo Gonzalez, who came back from an opening triple-bogey seven to shoot a 67.

Saltman's second hole in one at the tournament came in a closing 69 which left him with a 281 total, six shots off the pace.But he wasn't the best-placed Scot - that was Peter Whiteford, who finished yesterday with an impressive 67 for a 280 total. The Fifer's round included three birdies and an eagle - at the last - and just one bogey. Of the other two Scots that had made the cut on Friday evening, Greig Hutcheon closed with a 74 for 286, while David Drysdale closed with a 70 for 287.

Darren Clarke had a pretty miserable weekend and he is certainly not going to forget Celtic Manor's 14th hole for a while.

After a quadruple-bogey eight there on his way to a third -round 80 on Saturday, he took a ten on his return yesterday, when he carded another 80.

After driving into the lake, the Ulsterman went to the drop zone and hit two three-woods back into the water.

"And I hit them all well," he said after the successive 80s made him 18 over par for the tournament. "Let's just say this course does not really fit my eye. It never has done - and I putted unbelievably poorly as well."

Never before in a European Tour career going back to his debut as an amateur in 1990 has Clarke failed to break 80 in two successive rounds. He wasn't rock bottom of the leaderboard, though. Frenchman Thomas Levet was three shots worse off on 305 after shooting 81 on Saturday and 80 yesterday.