Cool daddy Noboru Sugai used meditation to clinch a wire-to-wire win in the Senior British Open at Royal County Down.

But the 52-year-old father of one from Tokyo had to sweat it out on the par-five 18th after seeing his five stroke lead shrink to just two.

Canadian John Irwin birdied the 16th to close to within four and then birdied the 17th from 30 feet as Sugai three putted for a bogey.

But it all ended happily for Sugai as he carved out a bogey six at the last to match Irwin and win by two for a cheque for euro ¤ 123,000.

After bunkering his four iron tee shot and hacking out into the left rough hit a great third, Sugai found the green in four and two putted as Irwin's challenge disappeared when he found sand in two and took four more to get down.

Said Sugai: "Unbelievable. A major championship. I felt nervous from the first tee and on every hole. But I tired to go, go, go. Fight, fight, fight."

After leading for three rounds Sugai was nervous at the start of the day but spent an hour doing deep breathing, meditation exercises before going out to relax.

It worked a treat as he sent an arrow straight drive down he middle and then hit the middle of the green with a fairway wood to set up and easy birdie four and go SEVEN clear.

A double bogey at the eighth set the alarm bells ringing and cut his lead to four but the Japanese kept cool and parred the ninth to steady the ship.

After that he was cruising for most of the day before Irwin's late birdie burst.

He said: "My plan was to stick to my game and be patient. Never give up and jut keep going. At the 18th I hit a bad four iron and thought 'just make a six and if he makes a four a play-off is okay.'"

After missing the fairway, Irwin put his second in a bunker to gift the title to the plucky Japanese player.

"Mr Irwin went in the bunker. Lucky for me," said Sugai, who found the green in four with a cut up eight iron and then two putted for a solid six.

"My plan is to play next year on the European Seniors Tour," he added. "But first I will go back to Japan for a few more tournaments."

But it was a bad day for five-time Open champion Tom Watson as his putting deserted him in a 79 that left him in 13th place.

Bunkered in two at the second, Watson took three to get out and ran up a triple bogey seven that finished his remote hopes of mounting a final day charge.

He then bogeyed the fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth before taking a double bogey six at the 425-yard ninth to turn in nine over.

On the back nine he showed his champion's mettle and birdied the last for an eight over par 79 to finish 13 shots behind on ten over.

Said Watson: "My game wasn't up to it. I was defenceless on the putting green and as far as making up for any missed strokes.

"It probably got me a little down in the dumps in terms of feeling I was not able to compete on the golf course because my putting was so poor.

"On the second I hit it in the bunker and left it in there twice. I probably should have taken my medicine and got it out with sand wedge but I hit he lip.

O'Connor Jnr was also cursing his luck on the greens as he took 35 putts to get round after hitting 17 greens in regulation.

The two-time champion started the day nine behind but closed to within six when he played the first 12 holes in one under.

He said: "I have to be somewhat happy. I never gave up the thought of winning and I tried my heart out today. I hit 17 greens and that is a hell of a feat around here. But I only had one single putt - on the ninth. I left seven or eight putts hanging and if I had made those I would have been right there.

"I knew if I could shoot 65 I would put pressure on him. But third is third and it would have been lovely to win it again. The winning score is phenomenal. Anything under par is brilliant."

Canadian Irwin, who qualified at Spa, was delighted to finish second and pick up a cheque for euro 78,000.

He said: "I was pleased. I finished well and second place is more than I expected coming here. I made it close with the birdie on the 17th but I drove it poorly on the last. I was in the long grass and I am not Tiger Woods coming out of that grass. Sugai played very well and he is a great champion."

O'Connor Jnr shared third place with Scotland's John Chillas on three over par.

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© Brian Keogh 2002

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