French Open:Ireland's Damien McGrane produced his best result of the season when finishing third to England's Graeme Storm in the French Open in Paris yesterday.
A blistering six-under-par final round of 65, in a strong, blustery wind, gave the Knightsbrook professional a share of third place with Colin Montgomerie and Thomas Bjorn of Denmark.
Storm, the former British Amateur champion, became the European Tour's 14th first-time winner of the season as he closed with a five-under-par 66 for a seven-under 277 total and a one-shot win over Denmark's Soren Hansen, who closed with a 72.
Eight-time European number one Montgomerie led with four holes to go, but two late bogeys cost the Scot a chance of a play-off.
McGrane, who started the final round eight shots off the pace set by overnight leader Hansen, made light of the difficult conditions as he raced to the turn in 32 with birdies at the first, sixth, seventh and ninth, before adding two more at the 10th and 15th in a homeward run of 33.
McGrane, who has missed the last three cuts after finishing 12th in the Irish Open at Adare Manor, collected €190,000 for his share of third place.
Meanwhile, by picking up 666,000, one of the richest first prizes of the season, Storm also clinched a British Open spot from a mini order of merit that ended with the French event. Storm's victory ended a seven-year wait for success.
He was the player who holed the winning putt in the 1999 Walker Cup against America, and Storm has now joined his Nairn team-mates Paul Casey, Luke Donald and Simon Dyson by enjoying a Tour victory.
A birdie on the 14th took Storm ahead of the field, and the 29-year-old Englishman clung on to his lead despite a brave attempt by Hansen to catch him.
The Dane double-bogeyed twice in the first six holes to tumble down the leaderboard, but hit back coming home.
Hansen needed to hole an unlikely 50-foot birdie putt on the last to force a play-off, but at least ensured second place by two-putting.
For Storm the long-awaited victory was a rags-to-riches story. After losing his card in 2002-03, he was so short of cash he had to resort to washing cake trays for a living during the winter.
Montgomerie's consolation was his best performance since finishing tied second in last year's US Open. The 44-year-old Scot's Achilles' heel continues to be his putting, however.
A missed three-foot putt to bogey the 15th with a three-putt took Montgomerie off the top of the leaderboard and subsequently ended his bid to win for the first time in 19 months. "I'm going to take lots of positives out of this week," he said. "I now know if I can putt well I can win."
Bjorn, who took the lead over the front nine, also had his best result this season after missing the cut in his last two events.
Paul McGinley closed with a pair of 75s for a four-over-par total of 288, while Peter Lawrie also found the conditions difficult with a final round of 78 for 290.
