Welsh wizard Phillip Price cashed in with the biggest win of his career at The K Club as Darren Clarke splashed out.

Home favourite Clarke made three visits to the Liffey in a closing 71 and had to settle for a share of fifth place, four shots behind the winner.

Price saw off his inner demons to finish on 16 under with a final round of 70 and take only his third European Tour title in 15 seasons.

The 36 year old Ryder Cup hero got up and down from the back of the 18th green for a dramatic winning birdie after squandering a three shot lead on the back nine.

He pocketed a massive cheque for ¤481, 245 - the second biggest of his career - as Clarke's title challenge sank without trace in the River Liffey.

Price said: "I suppose I've been short on titles and this is a big tournament to win. Had I holed my short putt on 17 I could have coasted down the last.

"But I quite fancied the chip. I hit it to two feet and I was relieved to hole the putt."

The mild-mannered Welshman punched the air several times after his victory.

And it should be enough to relegate his vital singles win over Phil Mickelson in the Ryder Cup last September to second place in his list of achievements.

Now he feels ready to step up and become a regular visitor to the winner's circle after surviving a pressure cooker finish yesterday.

He said: "The Ryder Cup was a very unique thing but it didn't really give me that much confidence to deal with a four-round tournament.

"Today I was nowhere near as nervous as I was in the Ryder Cup when I look back. I got quite defensive and I was being quite conservative."

Leading by three from Angel Cabrera, Mark McNulty and Alastair Forsyth on the back nine, he duffed a pitch at the 14th and then missed a two-footer for par at the 17th to see his lead evaporate.

McNulty and Forsyth carded final rounds of 68 to lead in the clubhouse and tie with Price on 15 under par.

Needing to birdie the last to win, Price split the fairway and fired a four iron through the green from 225 yards before pitching to two feet to seal victory.

Leading by three from a five man posse starting the day he reached the turn in two under to stay two clear of the pack but faltered on the back nine.

He admitted: "Fortunately I scrambled and got over the line. It would have been nice to have been glamorous and win by six but I go the job done."

Forsyth and McNulty shared second place with England's Gary Evans in fourth after an eagle three at the last.

But it was a disappointing finish to the week for Clarke who had the K Club buzzing with anticipation when he birdied the second and eagled the fourth to tie with Price on 14 under.

Three bogeys in a row from the sixth put paid to his hopes and in the end he made three visits to the Liffey in a miserable afternoon.

His gloom was only lifted when he sank a 70-footer for eagle at the 18th to finish as the leading Irishman and grab a share of fifth place with Argentina's Eduardo Romero.

Clarke said: "My driving was great but my iron play was abysmal. As much as I worked on the range I couldn't get my swing in shape at all. I couldn't get the ball on the clubface with the flight I wanted.

"In saying that fifth is a pretty good effort after two weeks off and hitting the ball the way I did with my irons.

"My driving is in great shape, my putting has come on and my short game was very good this week. Everything was there apart from my iron play.

"I've got to get back striking it properly with my irons. When I got tied for the lead I thought keep on going. But in the back of my mind I knew I was going to struggle.

Clarke got off to the perfect start form a scoring point of view but was never really happy with the way he was hitting the ball.

He holed a 40-footer at the second and then drained one from 30 feet from the fringe for eagle at the par five fourth to get to 14 under and gain a share of the lead with Price.

But his game soon began to desert him and the cracks that had started to appear in the opening holes were never going to be easy to fill.

Three bogeys in a row from the sixth put paid to his chances although he insists that he was always in with a chance on the back nine.

At the sixth he fired his approach through the green and failed to get up and down.

Then he made visits to the water at the seventh and the eighth that ended his chances of claiming the title.

He said: "I wasn't playing the way I should have been and it just caught up on me. You can't get away with that around here. I was too steep on the ball and I can't control it when I do that.

"I was trying to punch one on the seventh and got that wrong. At the short hole I pushed a nine iron and it ended up in the drink."

He did well to make no more than a bogey four there but suddenly he was trailing Price by three shots and Forsyth, McNulty and Cabrera all overtook him on the leaderboard.

When he failed to make a birdie at the par five 10th he was effectively out of the running for the championship.

But afterwards he claimed that he still believed that he could win.

He said: "I hadn't given up. I have made birdies and eagles before to finish off tournaments."

His chances disappeared completely at the Liffey side 17th where he hooked his drive into the water and again did well to save a bogey five.

A grandstand finish was called for and Clarke provided it when he hit a massive drive over the fairway bunker at the 537-yard last and drilled a seven iron to 70 feet and drained the putt for an eagle.

As the leading Irishman it effectively earned him a ¤10,000 cheque for charity.

Now he is ready to get his game in shape of Loch Lomond this week and a tilt at the Open in Sandwich.

Clarke added: "Going out today with a chance to win was good. Coming down the last few without a chance to win was not good.

"But my driving is 110 percent. My iron play is 2 percent and the rest is about 70 percent. I have a lot of work to do on the range between now and the Open"

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© Brian Keogh 2003

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