Chris Doak holds his nerve to land 'biggest win of career'

The 32-year-old from Greenock edged out West Linton's Gareth Wright with a birdie-four at the fourth extra-hole after both players had finished locked on 15-under 269 at the end of a testing, blustery day in Perthshire.

"After being disqualified on the 10th hole in Rome on Wednesday, I didn't think I'd be here a few days later with this trophy," said Doak, who picked up 8250 and joined a celebrated list of champions including John Panton, Eric Brown, Bernard Gallacher, Sandy Lyle, Sam Torrance and Paul Lawrie. "I'm ecstatic. I've played on the Tartan Tour for about 10 years but never managed to win this. It's the one I've always wanted and it's by far the biggest win of my career."

Doak had been sharing the lead with Mark Kerr with a round to play but it was Welshman Wright, aiming to become only the second non-Scot to plunder the national championship, who clawed himself to the top and set the clubhouse target with a battling two-under 69.

As the tension mounted, Doak, who kick-started what he described as a "ropey" final round with an eagle-two on the 14th, then made a crucial two-putt birdie on the last in a 71 to force the sudden-death shoot-out. Both players birdied the par-five 18th three times before the deadlock was finally broken at the fourth time of asking when Wright three-putted from long distance for a par and Doak took two putts from 15-feet to get down for a winning birdie.

Doak has clearly felt the benefits of working with swing guru Bob Torrance. "I hit the same shot into the green at 18 five times in a row today, once in regulation and four times in the play-off," added Doak, whose win helped him up to third on the final order of merit and sealed his place in next month's PGA Play-offs. "That kind of consistency in the swing has come from working with Bob and I have to thank him for that."

Runner-up Wright, 28, won a cheque for 6000 as well as the trophy for the leading assistant pro in the field. "It's a disappointment but I've proved that I can compete against the top players on this tour," he said.

Edinburgh man Kerr saw his title tilt hindered by three dropped shots on his first six holes on his way to a 73 for a 13-under 271 and a share of third.He was joined on that mark by Banchory's Greig Hutcheon, who finished with a flourish and hit a 66 to clinch the Tartan Tour's order of merit for the third time.

The 37-year-old, who won the rankings title in 2006 and 2007, can now look forward to potentially lucrative starts in next season's BMW PGA championship and the Barclays Scottish Open.

Craig Lee finished fifth on a 272 while Andrew Coltart shared tenth on 277.