Sandelin’s countryman Carl Pettersson finished in a tie for fourth two shots further back alongside England’s Barry Lane in the first counting event of the 2002 European Tour.

‘‘It’s a great feeling,’’ said the 34-year-old who finished a lowly 100th on the Order of Merit in 2001 - with £117,000 in prize money - after he struggled to hit top form after taking four months off over the winter around the birth of his first child.

‘‘The game has been up and down for a long time but somehow I felt I had the game and I was not seeing it in the results.’’

Sandelin, whose last win at the German Open in 1999 effectively sealed his Ryder Cup place at Brookline, began the final day one shot off the lead held by Pettersson and Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez but soon doubled his deficit when he dropped a shot on the opening hole.

However, he responded superbly with four birdies in his next five holes and another on the ninth took him out in 32, four under for the day and 10 under for the tournament.

A brilliant approach to six feet set up another birdie on the 208-yard 11th and took Sandelin three shots clear of the field before his first mistake of the day, a bogey on the 16th after his approach flew over the green, set up a nerve-wracking finish.

Olazabal had already set the clubhouse target on nine under with a birdie on the 18th while Jaidee could have forced a play-off by matching the Spaniard’s feat, but his long birdie effort came up inches short.

The 16th had in fact been a costly hole for Sandelin all week. He ran up a quadruple bogey eight in the pro-am on Wednesday, a double-bogey six in the first round and bogeys on Friday and Sunday with just one par on Saturday.

‘‘In the pro-am I went in the water so today I just thought make sure you get over the water and I was so far over I was almost in the bushes and saw some monkeys I think!

‘‘I also made a big mistake on the 14th when the group in front were looking for a ball. We made the decision to go through and I hit a really bad three wood and then realised it was better to be behind the guy who was chasing me because suddenly I could not see what was going on behind me.’’

Fortunately for Sandelin the man chasing him, Thailand’s Jaidee, could not birdie any of the final four holes to force a play-off and the Swede held on for his fifth tour title.

Olazabal meanwhile was delighted with his display and in particular his improved driving. ‘‘It was a very good performance,’’ the double Masters champion said.

‘‘I left a couple of shots out on the golf course but overall I’m very happy with the way I played this week and the result today.

‘‘My driving was very good this week and I wish it could be like this every week. I’ve been working all year long to try and hit the ball like I did this week and hopefully I will be able to do this more often.’’