KILLARNEY, July 31, 2011 (AFP) - England's Simon Dyson won the Irish Open in dramatic fashion on Sunday as he held off a ferocious challenge from Australia's Richard Green to take the title by one shot.
Dyson carded a four under par 67 to finish on 15 under for the tournament and that was enough to secure the fifth title of his career.
The 33-year-old finished his round tied with Green at the top of the leaderboard and he had to endure a nervous wait to see if the Australian would win the trophy with a birdie on the 18th hole or at least force a play-off with a par.
Green had led by one shot on several occasions during the final round, only to crack at the last hole as a bogey dropped him to 14 under and gifted Dyson his first title since his triumph at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship two years ago.
Scotland's Stephen Gallacher birdied the last to finish third on 12 under, one place ahead of Austrian Bernd Wiesberger on 11 under.
England's David Howell, who had been in a three-way tie with Dyson and Green at the top of the leaderboard overnight, was unable to maintain his momentum and ended tied for eighth place after a two over par 73.
It was a remarkable finale to a gripping final round that saw the lead change hands right up to the 18th.
Green had hit four birdies in the front nine but Dyson responded with four of his own after the turn to keep the pressure on.
That set the stage for drama at the last. Dyson missed a nine-foot birdie chance on the 18th, but left-hander Green -- playing in the group behind -- couldn't take advantage.
The 40-year-old, who finished 16th at the recent British Open, hit his own birdie attempt from almost 60 feet well past the hole and then missed the par putt as well to end his hopes of a play-off.
Meanwhile, US Open champion Rory McIlroy's disappointing tournament finished on a suitably downbeat note as he carded a round of 71, leaving him well behind the leaders at three under par.
McIlroy's fellow Northern Ireland star Graeme McDowell fared a little better, hitting three birdies on the front nine to finish with a one under par round of 70 that left him four under for the tournament.
Collated final round Irish Open scores at the Killarney Golf Club, Ireland on Sunday (GBR and IRL unless stated, par 71):
269 - Simon Dyson 70 65 67 67
270 - Richard Green (AUS) 67 68 67 68
272 - Stephen Gallacher 71 66 67 68
273 - Bernd Wiesberger (AUT) 67 69 71 66
274 - Soren Hansen (DEN) 67 66 72 69, Ignacio Garrido (ESP) 69 65 72 68, Alexandre Kaleka (FRA) 65 75 66 68
275 - David Howell 69 69 64 73, Peter Lawrie 70 66 70 69, Lorenzo Gagli (ITA) 68 69 73 65
276 - Carlos Del Moral (ESP) 69 67 70 70, Jeev Milkha Singh (IND) 63 70 74 69, Jaco Van Zyl (RSA) 70 70 67 69, Mark Brown (NZL) 71 67 68 70
277 - Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN) 69 69 69 70, Simon Wakefield 69 66 76 66
278 - John Parry 68 71 67 72, Ross Fisher 67 68 70 73, Marcel Siem (GER) 66 66 73 73, Barry Lane 70 67 69 72
279 - Felipe Aguilar (CHI) 68 70 71 70, Paul Cutler 69 67 71 72, Damien McGrane 69 67 77 66, Simon Thornton 68 72 69 70
280 - Robert Jan Derksen (NED) 71 69 70 70, Christian Nilsson (SWE) 66 70 74 70, Graeme McDowell 72 66 72 70, Raphael Jacquelin (FRA) 67 68 71 74, Oscar Floren (SWE) 68 72 74 66, David Drysdale 71 70 70 69, Gary Boyd 73 64 72 71, Tano Goya (ARG) 71 70 70 69, Marcus Fraser (AUS) 72 68 69 71
281 - Anthony Wall 70 68 73 70, Rory McIlroy 70 68 72 71, Oliver Wilson 69 66 74 72, Keith Horne (RSA) 70 71 70 70, Michael Hoey 69 67 71 74, Florian Fritsch (GER) 71 69 68 73
282 - Christian Cevaer (FRA) 70 69 74 69, Joel Sjoholm (SWE) 69 72 72 69, Shiv Kapur (IND) 71 69 70 72, Markus Brier (AUT) 70 68 70 74, James Morrison 71 68 73 70
283 - Richard Bland 70 69 73 71, Colm Moriarty 67 72 74 70, Robert Coles 71 70 72 70, Jamie Donaldson 70 68 75 70, David Horsey 68 68 77 70, Mark Foster 70 69 76 68, Oliver Fisher 68 73 72 70
284 - George Murray 71 70 73 70, Matt Haines 69 69 71 75, Mark Tullo (CHI) 75 65 74 70, Peter Whiteford 70 71 74 69, David Dixon 70 69 72 73, Rhys Davies 72 68 69 75, Simon Khan 70 69 74 71
285 - Romain Wattel (FRA) 69 69 74 73, Robert Dinwiddie 70 71 75 69, Niclas Fasth (SWE) 69 70 77 69, Joost Luiten (NED) 72 69 77 67, Alejandro Canizares (ESP) 67 73 74 71, Rafael Echenique (ARG) 70 71 68 76
286 - Richie Ramsay 68 69 76 73, Niklas Lemke (SWE) 67 69 79 71, John G Kelly 73 68 74 71
287 - Steve Webster 67 74 77 69
288 - Kenneth Ferrie 72 69 73 74
291 - Lloyd Saltman 67 74 77 73
292 - Maarten Lafeber (NED) 71 70 78 73