With a birdie at the second play-off hole, Frenchman Jean-Francois Lucquin won the Omega European Masters at Crans-sur-Sierre in the Swiss Alps stopping the young Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy from becoming one of the youngest ever winners on the European Tour.

The European Masters has a role call of past winners that holds up to any other event on the European Tour. Such names as Sergio Garcia, Luke Donald, Ernie Els, Lee Westwood, Colin Montgomerie, Seve Ballesteros and Nick Faldo read like a who’s who of the European Ryder Cup team. With Captain Faldo’s selections finally decided many of the leading lights choose not to compete this year leaving the event wide open to some of the Tour’s lesser-known names.

McIlroy took a 4 shot lead into the final round and had looked ever inch the man who created so much excitement at the 2007 Open at Carnoustie in his previous 3 rounds but never seemed able to reach the same level. A duffed chip at the first lead to a par on a par 5 that was effectively playing a shot easier and another duffed pitch at the second led to a bogey and his lead was effectively wiped out by the chasing pack.

Where Lucquin played steady golf, he was bogey free for his last 33 holes to force himself into contention including a final round 67 to post the clubhose lead, McIlroy constantly put himself into position to attack the pin but suffered with his putter where nothing seemed to drop for him. When he missed a 5-foot putt for par that would have won him the tournament, it seemed to emphasis just how much his flatstick let him down but worse was to come when he missed a putt of less than 2 feet that meant that Lucquin could 2-putt from just over 10 feet for the victory. Lucquin did not need McIlroy’s generosity and drained his putt for his second win and the traditional dousing in champagne that follows any French victory on Tour.