Martin Kaymer showed no signs of fatigue after his Ryder Cup heroics to win the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in style with an excellent six under par 66 on the Old Course, St Andrews Links today.
The USPGA champion finished on 17 under par with a four round total of 271, three shots ahead of young Englishman Danny Willett on 14 under par.
Kaymer shot seven birdies, including holing a snaking putt from off the green on the 17th, and one bogey to take control of the championship from overnight leader John Parry, who shot a level par 72 to finish on 13 under par. It was Kaymer's third consecutive victory after the USPGA in August and the KLM Open last month, the first time a hattrick has been achieved on the European Tour since Tiger Woods in 2006.
Gary Boyd from England was one shot back from Parry on 12 under par and defending champion Simon Dyson finished on 11 under par after mounting an eight birdie charge which was only derailed by bogeys on the 3rd and the 17th. He was tied with leading Scot Martin Laird and Spaniard Alvaro Quiros.
Lee Westwood's bid to take over the world number one slot from Tiger Woods stalled after a one over par 73 left him in joint 11th position on the leaderboard.
The 25 year-old German's victory caps a remarkable year after capturing his first major title and making his Ryder Cup debut in Europe's victory in Wales last week. It also makes up for losing in a play-off for the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship two years ago to Robert Karlsson and will see him earn £501,000 in prize money.
The team event was won by Karlsson and his playing partner Dermot Desmond with a 30 under par total of 258.
Image: Martin Kaymer with the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship trophy on the Swilcan Bridge.
For the final leaderboard from the 2010 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship please click here.