At the tender age of 19, and only 10 weeks into a professional career, Sergio Garcia clearly felt he had spent sufficient time learning how to lose. So it was that the Murphy's Irish Open at Druids Glen yesterday became the scene for a highly significant breakthrough victory by the hugely gifted Spaniard.

Shadows were lengthening at the end of an afternoon of glorious sunshine as the aspiring conquistador strode onto the 72nd green, clad in the favourite navy-blue of his idol, Seve Ballesteros. And with a six-foot birdie putt for a stunning 64, he raised his right arm in triumph.

A downward progression of 69, 68, 67 and now a 64 had given him a 16-under-par total of 268, one stroke better than the previous lowest aggregate for this venue, set by Colin Montgomerie two years ago. And at the climactic moment, with a huge gallery roaring their approval, he walked across the last green and embraced his friend, Miguel-Angel Martin.

Indeed it was an occasion for mutual congratulation, as Martin, shamefully rejected prior to the Ryder Cup two years ago, had equalled the course record of 62 earlier in the afternoon. Afterwards, Garcia said delightedly: "They say the first win is always the hardest. Let's see if we can continue from here."

One suspects he will have no difficulty in building on this marvellous victory. Breathtaking skills, which had stamped him as an amateur of rare quality, were quickly in evidence even in a relatively modest 25th-place finish on his professional debut in the Spanish Open last April.

Now we saw them sparkle among some of Europe's best. And in the process, there was a ringing endorsement of the sponsors' foresight in granting him an invitation as an amateur last year - never mind that he finished with an embarrassing 81.

A gripping day's sport also had Eamonn Darcy perform heroically as the oldest player in the field to claim a share of fourth place. And there was evidence of a welcome return to form by Lee Westwood, who might have challenged for a place in the top three but for a dispiriting finish of 5, 5, 5 - par, double-bogey, bogey - en route to a 68 and seven under par.

"It wasn't a case of what might have been - it was a case of what was," said the Englishman defiantly. "That's the best I've played for about 10 months. Realistically I should have finished 13 under par, but I three-putted the last three greens."

Montgomerie, for his part, failed to overcome the handicap of indifferent putting which saw him take 70 strokes with the blade over the closing two rounds. "All the luck was bad," he said, with one of those special expressions which he reserves for such occasions.

The big Scot, who had never previously been beaten over 72 holes at this venue, remained in contention at eight under par as he walked onto the tee at the long 11th, expecting a birdie. Instead, a bread-and-butter wedge third shot flew into the back fringe from where he took three more to get down for a bogey six.

Meanwhile, there was the stubborn resistance of Australian Jarrod Moseley in the second-last pairing. But his partner, Michael Campbell, who had challenged strongly for this title at Mount Juliet in 1995, seemed to lose his way in the manner of recent years, while experiencing a most expensive slide down to a closing 78.

But Moseley, winner of the Heineken Classic in Perth last January, was made of sterner stuff and got to 12 under par with a fairly predictable birdie at the long 16th. His chance of setting a worthwhile target, however, ebbed away when he missed the island green of the short 17th to run up a bogey four.

In Saturday's 67, Garcia had a homeward 32 which he claimed to be the best nine holes of his career. And again by his own estimation, he never putted better than yesterday. Indeed playing partner Cabrera could only look on bemused as a succession of raking putts miraculously found the target.

The magic started on the first, where he sank a 30-footer for a birdie to be only a stroke behind overnight leader Cabrera. And when a modest 12-footer dropped at the seventh, he had grabbed a share of the lead on 11 under. Two holes later, he was the outright leader on the same figure when Cabrera overshot the ninth green and failed to get up and down.

With the reaction of a born winner, Garcia thought at the time: "Come on, keep it going, stay calm. Try to make some birdies."

He didn't have long to wait. The decisive holes in his quest of the title proved to be the 11th, 12th and 13th. At the first of these, one couldn't help smiling at his boyish enthusiasm as he smashed a three-wood second shot and then raced after it to see if it had reached the target. It did - and a two-putt birdie maintained his lead after the Argentinian also carded a four.

Cabrera had no answer, however, to his rival's outrageous birdie at the short 12th, where the putt was all of 45 feet. And instead of easing himself through the treacherous 13th with a par, Garcia proceeded to sink a 30-footer for yet another birdie. Still the Argentinian hung on, albeit three strokes behind.

His tenacity was rewarded when he birdied the 14th and 15th, where Garcia carded pars. Now the gap was only one. In the way of champions, however, the Spaniard made a brilliant, up and down birdie at the long 16th, where a four-foot putt eased the pressure once more.

Then, with his caddie, Jerry Higginbotham, quietly cajoling him to remain calm, Garcia safely found the front half of the green with a punched tee-shot at the 203-yard 17th. Soon afterwards, he had commenced what proved to be a victory march up the 18th, which culminated in a six-foot downhill putt being eased into the hole for a closing birdie.

The young man from Castillon, near Valencia, had realised the wild dreams of a doting mother. When he was but a toddler of two, Consuelo was convinced he swung a duster in the style of a prospective champion golfer. And like most attentive mothers, her assessment proved to be correct, when, 17 years on, he swept his rivals aside to start the latest Spanish succession.