Golf: Luck of the Irish for Clarke

Darren Clarke won the Smurfit European Open in front of 28,000 Irish fans today.

A closing 66 laced with seven birdies - one of them more than a touch lucky gave the Ulsterman the £333,330 first prize with a 15 under par total of 273.

The luck of the Irishman came on the 447-yard sixth, where his approach hit a tree and rebounded to within seven feet of the flag.

Meanwhile, Dane Thomas Bjorn won himself - or rather his wife Pernilla - a diamond valued at nearly £100,000 by eagling the 16th and 18th holes.

He had needed to make them to reach 14 under for the par fives for the week and did it with a 12-foot putt on the last.

Latest finishes:

I Woosnam (Wales) 68 for 276

M Campbell (NZ) 74 for 282

P Casey (Eng) 73 for 281

C Rocca (Ita) 72 for 280

D Clarke (Ire) 66 for 273