VERSAILLES, France: Graeme McDowell produced a final round of four-under-par 67 to lead home the field by four strokes and become the first Northern Irishman to win the French Open on a thrilling final day at Le Golf National yesterday.

The 2010 US Open winner finished the tournament with a nine-under-par total of 275 as a tense final round eventually became a one man show with McDowell cantering home to pick up a winner’s cheque of 500,000 euros.

His closest rival, Richard Sterne of South Africa, held the lead after nine holes before collapsing down the stretch and finishing with three bogeys in six holes while McDowell’s rock solid game of just four bogeys throughout the tournament was the cornerstone of his second win of the year.

Sterne settled for second on five-under-par 279.

Englishman Graeme Storm and Spaniard Eduardo De La Riva were paired together for the final round and both men fired two-under-par 69s to claim a share of third spot on four under.

Sterne led by one shot after nine see-saw holes before McDowell birdied the 10th to draw level and looked on as the South African drove his tee shot on 11 into the deep rough.

With no clear sight of the green, Sterne did well to get within 40 feet of the pin before getting down in two for his first bogey of the afternoon and put McDowell back in the driving seat on eight under.

The 31-year-old from Pretoria looked certain to lose more ground at 13 when he sliced his second shot into the water but a fine approach shot and a 25 footer to save par kept him one back.

McDowell, who was looking for his sixth win in eight stroke play tournaments, and Sterne then headed toward what most players have described as the toughest four finishing holes on the European Tour.

Both players parred 15 before the treacherous par 3 16th produced another swing in fortune for McDowell.

His tee shot missed the green before a lucky bounce left his ball in a position from where he was able to two putt for par.

Sterne meanwhile showed the pressure was taking his toll when he missed a 10 foot putt for par and his second bogey in five holes handed McDowell a two-shot lead with two holes to play and he never looked back.

Englishman Simon Dyson, who finished 105th at last week’s Irish Open, produced his best tournament of the season to finish alone in fifth.

McDowell’s win follows his triumph earlier this year at the Volvo World Match Play Championship and puts him in second place in The Race to Dubai on 1,530,715 euros, just 27,185 behind US Open champion Justin Rose.

Marc Warren of Scotland was challenging for the lead on five under and two shots back heading into the back nine before the Glaswegian had a nightmare and dropped five shots in four holes to finish his tournament level par.

Wagner takes control

of Greenbrier Classic

American Johnson Wagner moved a step closer to winning his fourth PGA Tour title by seizing a two-shot lead after Saturday’s third round of the Greenbrier Classic at White Sulphur Springs in West Virginia.

One stroke off the pace overnight on a tightly bunched leaderboard, Wagner took over at the top as he fired a sparkling six-under-par 64 on a sun-splashed day at The Greenbrier’s Old White Course.

The 33-year-old Texan, who played the course several times a year when he was a student at nearby Virginia Tech, mixed seven birdies with a lone bogey to post a 14-under total of 196.

“Today my goal was to go out and make as many birdies as I could, and I did that,” Wagner told Golf Channel after sinking a 12-foot birdie putt at the par-three last and pumping his right fist in delight.

“Now I’ve got to take the same attitude into tomorrow.”

Fellow American Jimmy Walker, seeking his first victory on the PGA Tour, was alone in second after matching Wagner for the day’s best score, storming home with five birdies in the last nine holes.

Swede Jonas Blixt (67) was a further two strokes back at 10 under, a shot better than Australians Steven Bowditch (69) and Matt Jones (66), and American teenager Jordan Spieth (67).

American Matt Every, the 36-hole leader after opening with scores of 69 and 62, tumbled backwards with four bogeys in the first seven holes on the way to a 74 and a five-under total of 205.