Brier wins China Open

Markus Brier strolled to victory in the Volvo China Open today by a comfortable five-shot margin from Andrew McLardy, Scott Hend and Ireland's Graeme McDowell at the Shanghai Silport GC.

It was only the only the second European Tour title of his career for overnight leader Brier, who started the day on six under par holding a one-shot advantage over playing partner Hend.

He extended it to two by the turn, as some beautiful putting brought four birdies to go with the minor setback of a bogey at the fourth as the Austrian went out in 32 to move to nine under.

Hend fell further behind with consecutive bogeys at the 10th and 11th, while Brier produced a run of eight pars before he birdied the last to finish 10 under par and add the event, co-sanctioned by the European and Asian Tours, to the BA-CA Golf Open the 38-year-old won in Vienna last June.

McDowell could not get anything going in his final round as the Irishman ended the day in a tie for second on five under par.

The 27-year-old looked set to mount a last day charge as he closed within two of Brier after a birdie at the par-four second, but could not take advantage of a number of opportunities before a four at the last completed a round of 69.

McDowell finished level with Hend after the Australian birdied the 18th for a level-par final round of 71, and McLardy as the South African picked up two birdies and a bogey in a round of 70.

England's David Griffiths sealed a second consecutive top-10 finish after claiming a tie for third place at the Portuguese Open in Estoril two weeks ago.

The 26-year-old shot a final round of 71 to end one under par for the tournament, while compatriot Miles Tunnicliff recorded an impressive 66 to end the week level par.