Kjeldsen stays the course at Gleneagles

SOREN KJELDSEN became the fifth Danish golfer to win on the European tour in little more than a year yesterday.

The 28-year-old won the Diageo Championship at Gleneagles by two strokes from Scot Alastair Forsyth and with the £200,000 first prize leaps into seventh place on this season's Order of Merit.

It follows the victories last year by Anders and Soren Hansen, Thomas Bjorn and Steen Tinning to confirm Denmark as one of the emerging forces on a circuit which used to be dominated by British and Irish players.

Only 5ft 7in and 10 and a half stone and also only 164th in the world Kjeldsen produced a closing 72 to finish with a nine-under-par total of 279.

That was 17 more than Australian Adam Scott took when he triumphed by 10 last August, but that is largely explained by the ferocious winds encountered on the first two days and some pretty ferocious rough too.

Londoner Chris Gane will testify to that. His 17 on the final hole in the second round was the second highest score in tour history and four others hit double figures too.

Kjeldsen did marvellously well not to have a single double bogey all week, making 19 birdies and 10 bogeys.

The 19th was the key one. Having been brought back to only two in front the World Cup player slotted in a 30-foot putt on the short 14th.

He drove into a bunker on the 463-yard next, but pitched superbly to three feet and, having missed from half that distance at the 12th, he made it for the first of four pars that buried the hopes of those chasing him.

"It's fantastic," said Kjeldsen, whose wife Charlotte is expecting their first child in three months. "I can't ask for anything more."

Forsyth, six weeks after his father had triple heart by-pass operation, sank a 12-foot birdie putt on the last to push England's former Ryder Cup player Paul Broadhurst into third.

That made it Forsyth's best-ever pay-day, the £133,330 cheque being £21,000 more than he received for winning last year's Malaysian Open.

Broadhurst collected £75,120 welcome indeed after two years which have ended with him at the tour qualifying school. That should not be necessary this November.

"I knew before I went out that third would probably be enough to get my card and I can relax now," he said. "Who knows, you might even see some good golf from me now. It's a lot of pressure off me."

Colin Montgomerie was fourth the day before his 40th birthday and as soon as he finished he was heading home for a big party planned by his wife Eimear.

The seven-time Order of Merit winner was disappointed not to be successful on home soil, of course, but he believes he has turned the corner after missing the halfway cut on his last two starts in Europe.

Kjeldsen's outward 38 was seven more than he had taken in the third round and it brought his five-stroke lead down to two over Forsyth, with John Bickerton and Broadhurst three behind and Montgomerie four adrift.

Forsyth had a nine-foot chance on the 11th to narrow the gap to one, but after he missed Kjeldsen made a six-footer to be three in front.

Then Broadhurst, having birdied the seventh, eighth, 10th and 11th, then had a 20-foot eagle opportunity at the 503-yard next to be one back, but had to settle for birdie.

They were given a real boost, however, when the Dane missed a putt of little more than 18 inches for birdie at the 12th.

Montgomerie had made a four there, but his bogey at the 15th after he drove into a bunker left him too much ground to make up especially when Kjeldsen made up for his miss with his long putt at the 14th.

In fact, that effectively killed off all his pursuers.