• European Masters, Final Round

Bjorn leaves rivals trailing in his wake

Thomas Bjorn thanks his caddy © Getty Images

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Thomas Bjorn won his second title in as many weeks with a sparkling final round 62 at the European Masters in Switzerland.

The Dane, who won a five-man play-off at the Johnnie Walker Championship last week, was three shots off the pace with 18 holes left to play, but set the tone for his round with a birdie at the first.

A bogey at the fourth briefly checked his progress, but he responded in emphatic fashion with a run of four consecutive birdies to reach the turn in 32.

Trailing leader Martin Kaymer by a single stroke, Bjorn produced an eagle and three birdies on his final five holes to wrap up an impressive victory by four strokes.

"The way I finished was special and it's been an amazing two weeks," Bjorn - who joins Luke Donald as the only three-time winner in the world this year - said afterwards. "I started hitting my wedges so well last week and kept it going.

"At the end you think nothing can go wrong. Golf seems easy sometimes and you have to remember that when you are not playing well."

Two eagles on his first five holes saw Kaymer make his move up the leaderboard, but failure to pick up any shots on the back nine ultimately proved costly, as the German signed for a 65 to finish at 16-under.

Lee Westwood looked to be perfectly-placed a single shot off the lead heading into the final day at Crans-sur-Sierre, but his challenge faded after two early bogeys. The world No. 2 finished with a 71 to sign off on 14 under.

Rory McIlroy looked to be the man heading for victory after two early birdies saw him snatch the lead, but he was unable to maintain his challenge as he finished five shots off the pace.

However, he was happy to complete his recovery from the arm injury he sustained at last month's US PGA Championship.

"It was a bittersweet week," McIlroy said. "Coming back off the injury I didn't know what to expect. To get myself into contention was great and the arm felt 100 per cent healthy, which is a huge positive.

"Even if I had played well I don't know if I would have been able to catch Thomas."

Jamie Donaldson began the day with the lead, but could only finish level with McIlroy and Jaco van Zyl at 15-under after a one-under round of 70. The Welshman started the round slowly, going out one-over par, and left himself too much work to do to recover on the back nine.

With David Lynn and Fredrik Andersson Hed level with Westwood in a share of sixth, defending champion Miguel Angel Jimenez secured a top ten finish with a round of 66, alongside compatriot Alejandro Canizares and another multiple winner this year, Alex Noren.

Elsewhere, Nick Dougherty failed to build on the momentum of making his first cut in 22 attempts in 2011, carding a final round 73 - despite eagling his first hole of the day - to ultimately finish in a tie for 45th.

The result at least confirmed his first pay cheque of the year - €10,600 (around £9,280).

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