Nick Dougherty gains maiden European Tour victory

England's Nick Dougherty cruised to victory in the the Singapore Masters by five shots on Sunday to earn his maiden Tour success.

Dougherty, 22, carded a five-under-par 67 to finish at 18 under par on the Laguna National course, completing his final round with a superb birdie at the last hole.

Scotland's Colin Montgomerie, the defending champion, bogeyed two of his closing three holes in a round of 70 to finish second on 13 under par, tied with Dutchman Maarten Lafeber.

Denmark's Thomas Bjorn, who recorded a double bogey at the 17th, finished fourth on 11 under par after a round of 72.

Dougherty was delighted with his victory just a week after finishing fourth in the South African Open.

He took the lead with an eagle at his 15th hole in the second round and never relinquished his position at the top of the leaderboard.

"I am honestly delighted and the win hasn't quite sunk in yet and when you are playing with players like Colin (Montgomerie) and Thomas (Bjorn) you really don't think it is over till it is over," Dougherty told reporters.

"It really wasn't till I sank that putt at the last hole that I almost forgot that I had won and, hopefully, now this is the start of many great things to come and I am very, very pleased that I have won here in a very great place."

Dougherty turned professional in 2001 straight after helping Great Britain & Ireland to success in the Walker Cup.

He has finished second twice, including the 2002 Qatar Masters when he was denied victory by Australia's Adam Scott.

Montgomerie, contesting his first event of the year, lost his chance of defending the title end when he three-putted for bogey at the par-four 16th.

After a wayward iron shot at the par-three 17th the Scot superbly chipped in for par but his hopes of defending his title were dashed when he left his second shot at the last short and three-putted from 30 feet.

"It was an impressive effort from Nick and he deserves his win and all good luck to him," Montgomerie said.

Lafeber bogeyed the first hole and double-bogeyed the ninth before two late birdies helped him close with a 69.

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