Clarke wins Dutch Open

Dutch Open:Darren Clarke won the Dutch Open today, boosting his chances of a Ryder Cup wild card.

Clarke finished four strokes ahead of fellow Irishman Paul McGinley with Sweden's Henrik Stenson in third, one stroke further back.

A second successive four-under 66 in strong winds at the Kennemer links, for a 16-under 264 total, earned Clarke his second European Tour title of the year.

Clarke's impressive performance is sure to be noted by European Ryder Cup captain Nick Faldo, who will announce his two wild cards after his team's top-10 automatic qualifiers have been decided at Gleneagles, Scotland, next week on the close of the  Johnnie Walker Championship.

The 40-year-old Clarke went into the final round three shots ahead of playing partner and world number six Stenson, who had already sealed his Ryder Cup place.

Stenson, who shot a 68, had birdies at the first three holes.

With Clarke dropping a shot at the second, Stenson took over the lead with a raking 40-footer on the third.

Clarke would not be denied, though, and regained his advantage with six birdies in the next nine holes.

A closing bogey by Stenson enabled McGinley (64), who had come through the field with a chip-in eagle and five birdies, to take second place on his own.

With a record of three wins out of three in the 2006 Ryder Cup, after a long layoff because of his late wife Heather's terminal illness, Clarke's recent surge of good form, including a sixth place in the WGC at Akron, will surely impress Faldo.

"It feels good to play well when you know you have to," Clarke told reporters after adding to his Asian Open win in April with his 12th European Tour success.

"I can't have any say in the wild cards and it's up to Nick to pick who he sees is best going to help the team but I needed to play well to make him look at me.

"Now I'll try to do that again next week at Gleneagles."