Home hero Johnson’s joy at Swedish win

SWEDE Richard Johnson sank a 30-foot birdie putt on the finalgreen to become only the second home winner of the Scandinavian Masters in the last 12 years.

With a play-off looming against Argentina’s Rafa Echenique, the 33-year-old looked to have played safe with his approach to the 407-yard last at Bro Hof Slott near Stockholm. But months of putting woes in the US – he is now based there, but has not had a single top-30 finish since February – were forgotten as he took his second European Tour title eight years after his first. Johnson, whose regular caddie Lance Ten Broeck went and played in the British Senior Open instead and missed the cut, earned 260,000 after a closing 71 gave him an 11-under-par total of 277.

“It’s one of the sweetest things I’ve ever done,” he said. “Just to come up the 17th and 18th is magical. This is a huge tournament to win for a Swede and I’m speechless. It’s epic.”