Alfred Dunhill Links Championship:If six-hour rounds and amateur hacking have often made the Dunhill Links Championship the golfing equivalent of water torture, then the 2007 edition of the European Tour's lucrative pro-am proved an unalloyed delight yesterday on an afternoon at St Andrews that brought victory for Nick Dougherty and confirmation that Rory McIlroy, the 18-year-old Irishman, is as brilliant as has been advertised.

Three shots ahead after the third round, Dougherty overcame a nightmare start - two holes, two bogeys - to forge a two-shot victory over a distinguished leaderboard and claim the €562,625 winner's cheque, easily the biggest pay-day of his life.

"This is the one I have been waiting for a long time, a really big one," the Englishman said after the second win of his professional career, to add to the 2005 Singapore Open. "Hopefully, I'll be able to push on from here."

He bounced back from losing his overnight lead in the space of five holes to sign for a closing 71 and four-round total of 270, 18 under par, and will have taken enormous encouragement from the names beneath him on the final leaderboard, a list headed by Justin Rose, who shot a three-under par 69 to finish two back, and featuring Ernie Els, who looked a prospective winner until he putted into a greenside bunker on the 16th hole en route to a shocking, triple-bogey seven.

"This is a life-changing win for me but I felt very nervous at the start of the day," admitted Dougherty.

"I've been in this position before and it's not gone right but I spoke to my fitness coach, Ron Cuthbert, before going out and he told me to use the nerves as a positive thing.

"He said if I wasn't nervous it would be a bad thing and he told me to enjoy these moments. He was a real help.

"I got off to a pretty bad start but I trusted myself and my ability. I had some big players, like Ernie and Justin, chasing me but I got the job done."

Runner-up Rose, who closed the gap on Padraig Harrington in the race for the Order of Merit title after pocketing a consolation prize of €375,000, saw his challenge thwarted with a bogey at the 17th on his way to a 69.

Dougherty is a product of the Faldo Series, a scheme for nurturing elite young golfers founded by the six-time major champion. Nothing would give the younger man more satisfaction than making his mentor's Ryder Cup team to play the United States in Kentucky next September.

Yesterday's victory, coupled with a palpable mood around European golf these days that the guard is changing, makes the Englishman a realistic contender for team golf's biggest event.

Marginally less realistic, but possibly even more enticing, are the Ryder Cup prospects of McIlroy, who looked every inch a superstar-in-waiting as he returned a four-under-par 68.

As it turned out, the teenager might have won the tournament but for a poor drive on the 14th that landed out-of-bounds and cost him a double-bogey seven. Lesser talents, more experienced players, might have crumbled, but McIlroy birdied three of his last four holes to finish on 15 under par.

That was good enough for third place and a cheque of €211,322. More importantly for McIlroy, playing in only his second event as a professional, it was good enough to earn him his European Tour card for next season.

He jumped to 110th on the money list and seems certain to become the youngest player - at 18 years and 156 days - to win his tour card in the shortest time.

Spaniard Sergio Garcia won his playing rights when he won his fourth professional event, the 1999 Irish Open, at the age of 19.