Graeme McDowell today claimed his second European Tour title of the season at the Scottish Open — and with it virtually sealed a Ryder Cup debut.
McDowell carded a final-round 68 at Loch Lomond to finish 13-under-par, two shots ahead of South African James Kingston, with Australia's Richard Green and Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez a shot further back in third.
The €625,000 first prize lifted the 28-year-old from Portrush from 10th to sixth in the Ryder Cup standings and only an extraordinary series of results can deny him a place in Nick Faldo's side to defend the trophy at Valhalla in September.
England's Simon Khan held a two-shot lead after 11 holes of the final round but double-bogeyed the 12th and 17th to finish fifth.
He at least had the consolation of securing the final place on offer in The Open at Royal Birkdale. Khan held his nerve to par the last when a bogey would have handed the spot to Scotland's Stephen Gallacher, who closed with a superb 64.
McDowell and Khan began the day tied for the lead and were still locked together at the turn on 12-under par.
Khan then moved two shots clear after a birdie on the 11th followed McDowell's bogey on the 10th.
But that lasted just one hole when the 36-year-old ran up a double bogey six on the 12th, needing two attempts to chip up a steep slope onto the putting surface after his approach came up short of the green.
McDowell moved into the outright lead with a birdie on the 13th and after both players had birdied the short par-four 14th — McDowell two-putting after driving the green — the decisive moment came on the 15th.
Khan took a bogey five after pushing his drive into deep rough, while McDowell hit a superb approach to three feet for birdie to open up a three-shot cushion.
Gary Murphy, Damien McGrane and Rory McIlroy all finished in a share of 19th place on five-under while Paul McGinley (one-over) and Peter Lawrie (three-over) were well down the field.
World number two Phil Mickelson could only manage a closing round of 73 to finish well off the pace on two-under par, while Ernie Els - twice a winner here - was joint ninth after a 69.
Collated Scores
(Gbr and Irish unless stated,
Irishin bold, par 71)
271 Graeme McDowell67 70 66 68
273James Kingston (Rsa) 70 70 67 66
274Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 68 69 68 69, Richard Green (Aus) 67 68 70 69
275Simon Khan 69 66 68 72
276Francesco Molinari (Ita) 69 68 72 67, Stephen Gallacher 72 68 72 64, Robert Dinwiddie 68 68 71 69
277Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 68 68 69 72, Paul Lawrie 68 67 72 70, Ernie Els (Rsa) 72 66 70 69, Oliver Wilson 71 66 71 69, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 69 70 74 64
278Christian Cevaer (Fra) 70 67 70 71, Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 67 71 71 69, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 70 68 72 68, Oliver Fisher 68 69 70 71, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 70 70 69 69
279Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 70 67 69 73, Anthony Wall 70 70 69 70, Rory McIlroy70 69 68 72, Damien McGrane68 66 76 69, Gary Murphy68 70 72 69, Lee Westwood 67 69 70 73
280Ross Fisher 68 69 68 75, Adam Scott (Aus) 72 66 68 74, David Lynn 69 67 70 74, John Bickerton 66 71 72 71, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 64 71 71 74, Ian Poulter 69 69 68 74, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 72 65 71 72, Gregory Havret (Fra) 69 70 72 69
281Hennie Otto (Rsa) 71 69 71 70, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 67 70 77 67, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 68 70 74 69, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 67 69 72 73, Simon Wakefield 71 68 72 70
282Phil Mickelson (USA) 71 67 71 73, Alexander Noren (Swe) 64 73 71 74, David Howell 69 70 70 73, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 73 66 74 69, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 65 68 78 71, Mark Brown (USA) 73 66 71 72
283Thomas Bjorn (Den) 67 68 75 73, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 73 67 71 72, Mark Foster 68 70 73 72, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 69 70 73 71, Johan Edfors (Swe) 67 71 76 69
284Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 67 70 76 71, Andres Romero (Arg) 68 71 75 70
285Garry Houston 66 71 74 74, Andrew Oldcorn 71 69 72 73, Alastair Forsyth 73 67 72 73, Matthew Millar (Aus) 72 64 77 72, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 70 68 72 75, Paul McGinley 70 70 72 73, Ross McGowan 69 70 74 72
287David Dixon 68 70 75 74, Tom Whitehouse 68 71 75 73, Peter Lawrie 71 68 77 71
288David Drysdale 68 71 74 75, Scott Strange (Aus) 70 68 77 73
289Iain Pyman 69 71 76 73, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 69 70 75 75
292Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra) 70 68 75 79
