Fitzpatrick holds nerve to take Stockholm title

England's Matt Fitzpatrick held his nerve to win the Nordea Masters -- which he only entered at the last minute -- by three strokes in Stockholm on Sunday.

"It was a great final day for me," Fitzpatrick said

STOCKHOLM, 5 June 2016, (AFP) - The 21-year-old, who went into the final round five shots clear but saw his lead cut to two at the turn, was a model of consistency over the four days as he captured only his second European Tour title at Bro Hof Slott Golf Club.

Fitzpatrick, ranked 45 in the world, sealed the crown with a final-round 71 to get to 16-under-par overall, and in the process greatly boosted his chances of a Ryder Cup debut in the autumn.

"It was a great final day for me and I managed to hold onto my lead fairly well and get the win. I felt like today was the round where I would be under the most pressure," Fitzpatrick said, as he became the youngest winner of the Nordea Masters.

"I was keeping an eye on where I needed to get to but I was just taking one hole at a time and I was so zoned in to my own game, I didn't know what was going on around me half the time.

"I'm a million miles ahead of schedule. It's been a tough past few weeks and all of a sudden you turn up and pick up a win."

The former US Amateur champion, who finished tied seventh at the Masters in Augusta in April, carried his good form into the Swedish capital to close out victory ahead of Dane Lasse Jensen in second. Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts was third, four off Fitzpatrick.

Henrik Stenson, the world number six, was tied fourth with fellow Swede Bjorn Hellgren.

Leading final-round scores from the Nordea Masters in Stockholm on Sunday (par 72):

272 - Matt Fitzpatrick (ENG) 68-65-68-71

275 - Lasse Jensen (DEN) 72-69-66-68

276 - Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL) 70-66-70-70 278 - Bjorn Hellgren (SWE) 71-72-68-67, Henrik Stenson (SWE) 72-70-70-66 279 - Ross Fisher (ENG) 68-68-74-69 280 - Rikard Karlberg (SWE) 70-69-70-71 282 - Lee Westwood (ENG) 68-71-72-71, Raphael Jacquelin (FRA) 70-69-73-70 283 - Tjaart Van Der Walt (RSA) 73-71-71-68, Johan Edfors (SWE) 71-71-71-70 284 - Andrew Johnston (ENG) 67-69-73-75, Robert Karlsson (SWE) 69-74-69-72, Alex Noren (SWE) 69-70-67-78, Michael Jonzon (SWE) 72-69-72-71, Matteo Manassero (ITA) 72-67-74-71, Nino Bertasio (ITA) 73-69-71-71 285 - Thomas Linard (FRA) 69-68-75-73, Jens Dantorp (SWE) 70-74-70-71