THE WAIT was worth it in the end. Eamonn Darcy, whose last European Tour win was in the heat of the desert, spent the afternoon wondering if a disappointing finish to his round would cost him the £50,000 Quinn Direct PGA Charity Trophy at the Slieve Russell Hotel and Country Club yesterday.

But such concerns proved to be ill-founded and Darcy - who claimed the Emirates Desert Classic in Dubai back in 1990 but who has endured a barren spell since his last Irish PGA championship win at The K Club in 1992 - eventually returned to the winner's enclosure when he had one shot to spare over fellow European Tour regulars Des Smyth, the overnight leader, Philip Walton and Christy O'Connor Jnr.

"I thought I needed to be just a shot better to be on the safe side," conceded former Ryder Cup hero Darcy, who shot a second round 69 for a five under par 36-holes aggregate of 139. Darcy, one of the early starters, spent the day wondering if he might be pipped at the post and, for a while,, it looked as if Walton would, indeed, confirm those fears.

However, Darcy, who is languishing in 124th place in the current European rankings with £12,997, could eventually reflect on a rewarding couple of days, not Just for the monetary reward of £8,000, but also for the confidence boost it will give to his season.

"I'm the sort of player who plays on confidence, so, I'm really happy to win this title," said Darcy. "I picked up a new putter seven or eight days ago and I think on these greens they were quite difficult to putt on and I did really well."