Colin Montgomerie gets first win in 19 months

Straffan, Ireland (Sports Network) - After 19 months of waiting, Colin Montgomerie was a champion again.
The eight-time Order of Merit winner shot a five-under 65 Sunday to hold off Niclas Fasth and win the Smurfit Kappa European Open, picking up his 31st European Tour victory and first since December 2005.
After finishing his round, Montgomerie waited out an 80-minute weather delay to see if Fasth could catch him. When Fasth failed to make birdie at the 18th after play resumed, Montgomerie had his win.
He finished at 11-under-par 269.
"After nearly two years of a dry spell it's great to be back," Montgomerie said. "You wonder if it's ever going to happen again."
Fasth shot a three-under 67 and collected his fourth consecutive top-10 finish, a stretch that includes a fourth at the U.S. Open and a win two weeks ago at the BMW International Open.
He ended at 10-under 270.
"It was rather disappointing," Fasth said of his second-place finish. "Considering how I was feeling it was not a bad effort. I just tried to pull through."
Pelle Edberg (66), Peter Hanson (68), Gregory Havret (68) and Anthony Wall (65) shared third place at nine-under 271.
Nearby lightning forced a brief weather delay around 4 p.m. local time, but not before Montgomerie made a 15-foot putt at the 15th hole for the second of back-to-back birdies to tie Fasth for the lead at 11-under.
Fasth then made consecutive bogeys at 12 and 13 to fall back to nine-under, joining four other players who then stood two shots back of Montgomerie.
The Scotsman nearly gave his lead away at the 18th, a converted par three.
Montgomerie hit an errant tee shot at the finishing hole, but got lucky when his ball remained dry inside the hazard line. He chipped within four feet to save par, and headed to the clubhouse leading by two shots.
No one would catch him, although it took a long time to be sure of that.
Fasth birdied the 15th to pull within one, then knocked his tee shot at the par-three 17th to within six feet of the hole. But he pushed that putt right and settled for par, leaving himself with one more hole to tie Montgomerie.
The horns sounded for another weather delay at 5 p.m. local time, leaving Fasth with a almost an hour and a half to think about the 18th hole. When he returned, he knocked his tee ball within 15 feet, but was unable to convert the birdie.
The win was Montgomerie's first since the Hong Kong Open in December 2005 (during the 2006 season) and just his fourth overall in the last five seasons. It broke a tie with Nick Faldo for third place on the European Tour's all-time wins list.
"I had to work for it," Montgomerie said. "I'm now one win above Nick Faldo, someone I have admired for many, many years."
Peter Hedblom shot his fourth consecutive 69 and tied third-round leader Soren Hansen (72), Thomas Levet (67) and Peter O'Malley (69) for seventh place at eight-under 272.