Shanghai joy for Clarke

Darren Clarke hailed his emotionally-charged victory at the BMW Asian Open as the best of his illustrious career.

The 39-year-old edged Robert-Jan Derksen by a single stroke in a thrilling final-day encounter in Shanghai in which Clarke holed a birdie putt on the last to secure the win. It has been five years since his last victory on the European Tour and was also his first since his wife Heather passed away in 2006.

"It was always going to be a difficult hurdle for me to get back to winning ways after Heather had passed away," said Clarke. "My mind started going from about 14 onwards and I lost my concentration and started thinking about Heather and the boys. But on the last hole I gathered myself and hit a good putt and luckily it went in."

The win in Shanghai was certainly not a comfortable one as Clarke was challenged all the way by playing partner Derksen.

The Dutchman had double-bogeyed the par-three 14th after he chipped into the water and though Clarke bogeyed the same hole he still moved two strokes clear at the top of the leaderboard.

From then it seemed the win would be a formality for Clarke but bogeys on the 16th and 17th meant he went to the last level par with Derksen.

"This is the very top. I have been working harder than I have ever worked before on all aspects of my game," added Clarke.

"I have been putting in nine-hour days and it is nice to see it pay off. It is a big mental hurdle that I have overcome."

England's Robert Dinwiddie shot a two-over-par 74 to secure a share of third place alongside Francesco Molinari and Lin Wen-tang.

World number 13 Henrik Stenson, the highest-ranked player at the tournament, produced a great final round to return to the clubhouse with a four-under-par 68 and finish sixth.