Golfing Disasters Part 21: Paul Broadhurst is one of the nice guys on the European Tour. He won both of his matches in the 1991 Ryder Cup at Kiawah Island and has five Tour titles to his credit but he keeps his feet firmly on the ground.

He has only ever played in two majors on US soil but when his form this year earned him a spot in the US PGA he declined the trip and kept a commitment to celebrate his 40th birthday with his family. In the ever-shortening off-season you may find him playing with his old mates in the winter league near his home in Atherstone.

Even when he ended 10 years without a victory to claim this season's Portuguese Open, one of the first things he did was to empathise with Barry Lane, who had blown the lead with a cartoonish quintuple-bogey on the final hole. "I feel a lot of sympathy for Barry," said Broadhurst. "You don't wish that on anybody because I've done it often enough myself."

Heading into the final round at Oitavos, there were four contenders for the title. Paul Lawrie was the outright leader on 11 under, Lane and home favourite Jose-Filipe Lima were on 10 under and Broadhurst was nine under with everyone else at least three shots further off the pace. Lawrie and Lane were in the final game and when they both covered the front nine in three under par it looked like developing into a head-to-head contest.

They were level at 13 under after the Scot bogeyed the par-three 12th. Lane followed that with an eagle at the 13th to move two ahead but the advantage was short-lived as Lawrie birdied the 14th from 25 feet and Lane three-putted for bogey.

They continued like two boxers trading punch and counter-punch. Lane birdied the par-three 15th. Then Lawrie two-putted for a four at the long 16th. Now they were level at 15 under.

Up ahead Broadhurst had recovered superbly from a bad start but realistically, he had spent most of the afternoon just seeking a high finish. Following bogeys at the third and fifth he carded seven birdies in the next 12 holes. But he drove into a bush at the last and dropped a shot to finish on 13 under. By the time he had signed his card that score made him a contender for victory.

Lawrie drove into trees at the 17th and ran up a triple-bogey seven. Lane also dropped a shot so the leaderboard read Lane -14, Broadhurst -13, Lawrie -12. Then came Lane's collapse. He drove into bushes left of the final fairway, squirted his recovery into more bushes on the right and then made good contact with his third only to see it hit off a root and fly out of bounds. Forced to take a drop, he saw his new ball land in an unplayable lie, which meant another penalty and another drop. He hit his sixth close to the green and chipped and two-putted for a nine.

Lawrie left a 10-foot birdie effort short and so Broadhurst had backed into the title.

"This is probably one of the most surprising days of my career," he admitted. "My wife asked me last night 'Do you think you can win?' and I said probably not because of the way I was swinging it.

"When I've won before my game has been in top order but on Wednesday I was really struggling and went out there with no expectations. To win is a big weight off my shoulders. I can plan the year properly now. For the last five or six years it's all been about getting my card."

He has gone on to make 2005 his most lucrative as a professional and stands 31st on the Order of Merit with €561,786 to his credit. Not bad for a winter league player.