Despite the wind and rain which which never far away, Miss Laing was able to maintain the moment which began when she earned the No 2 seed position in the qualifying stages and continued through the week.
In contrast, Claire played her best golf getting to the final but once there her form slipped down a notch.
But it was still a very close contest for most of the way. At the halfway stage, there was still everything to play for. Claire and Ann had both gone out in two under par 36 and were all square. Then Miss Laing's like for the Old Course's inward half took over. She birdied the 10th to go one up, although she lost the 11th to a par. Then Anne got her title-winning charge going. She won the 12th with a par, the 13th on a concession, the 14th with a par and the 15th.
Four successes in a row and suddenly the title was back in Miss Laing's possession. It was her fourth final but she had lost in 1999 and last year, since beating Alison Davidson in the 1996 final at Royal Dornoch.
For Claire it was a first appearance in a final.
In the semi-finals, she produced spectacular figures of six under par in beating Ohio State University student Laura Wells from Dumfries by 5 and 4. She was the ninth qualifier for the match-play stages.