American Ben Curtis celebrated an amazing Open championship victory on Sunday night - not just because few people of the millions watching knew who he was, but also because of the way it came about.

At the end of a remarkable week in Kent, England, the 26-year-old from Kent, Ohio, became by far the biggest outsider to win a major title in decades.

In the first major of his life - nobody has won on their debut, it is believed, since Francis Ouimet at the 1913 United States Open - Curtis triumphed at Royal St George's when Thomas Bjorn self-destructed over the famous and fearsome closing stretch.

The US Tour rookie, with not a single top-10 finish to his name in a main tour event, was to all except his nearest and dearest a complete unknown.

Since the world rankings were introduced in 1986 only two players from outside the top 100 - John Daly and Paul Lawrie - had claimed major glory. Curtis was an incredible 396th.

He was hardly able to believe it as he joined a list of golfing greats on the famous Claret Jug.

The last debutant to win the Open was Tom Watson at Carnoustie in 1975. But Watson was an established player and, of course, was to go on and win the title four more times.

While Curtis tried to get his win to sink in, Bjorn reflected on the one that got away. Got away horribly in a manner that could well haunt him if he never goes one better.

Three ahead with four to play after Curtis - himself two in front after 11 holes - had four bogeys in the next six, Bjorn made the mistake of pushing his tee shot to the 163-yard 16th into the worst of the nine bunkers on the hole.

To save par needed a delicate touch, but it was too delicate and the ball rolled back into the sand. As he did with his next attempt.

The cheers went up when he made it third time lucky and by holing the five-footer he limited the damage to a double-bogey five.

As he did so Curtis made a 10-footer for par on the last, not realising the full significance of it.

Without it he would be Open champion - Europe's first since Lawrie four years ago.

But it will be the bunker on the 16th that he will remember longer with thoughts of what might have been.

The five left him level with Curtis, but it came as such a shock that he was unable to recover in time.

At the difficult 17th he drove into the rough, could not make the green and after chipping to five feet pushed the putt wide.

Now he needed a birdie on the 460-yard 18th to tie - and all day only Chad Campbell had made a three there.

Again he was in the rough in one and short of the green in two and good though his chip was it had to go in and it did not.

And that meant that Curtis, with his closing 69, had won with a one-under-par total of 283 by one from both Bjorn and Fijian Vijay Singh, who was left to rue visiting the same bunker as the Dane on the 16th and bogeying.

Joint fourth were Davis Love and Tiger Woods, who himself bogeyed two of the last four holes and who might have won, of course, if his opening drive last Thursday had not been lost.

But Woods paid tribute to Curtis' achievement afterwards. "It's pretty remarkable," he said.

"You don't normally find people contending, let alone winning their first major. It just goes to show that anybody playing well can do it."

Curtis broke down in his winner's speech when he thanked those closest to him, including his fiancee Candice, but he remembered to praise the fans too.

"I come from Kent, Ohio, and you made me feel at home."

Bjorn led by one from Love overnight, but he went over the first green from the rough and after chipping to six feet missed the putt.

Love also bogeyed and when he dropped shots at two of the next three as well he dropped out of the picture.

Instead it was Curtis, Singh and Woods who battled for top spot on the front nine, the position changing no fewer than 13 times.

At the end of it Curtis and Bjorn were three under, Singh two and Woods one. Phillip Price was next best at level par, but he found a horrid lie in a bunker at the short 11th and did well to get away with a bogey.

By then, though, playing partner Curtis was on fire. Out in 32, only one away from the best of the week, he rolled in an 18-footer at the 10th and when he converted a 12-foot chance on the next he became the first player to reach five under all week and was two clear.

It was a remarkable performance given he was not just a US Tour rookie, but also a major championship rookie - and had only once before played a tournament on a links course.

But now the attention was right on him and a three-putt bogey at the 381-yard 12th left him one ahead of Bjorn. However, Singh and Woods were still three and four adrift as they both bogeyed the 10th.

Nick Faldo was among those chasing and a 35-foot eagle putt on the seventh had brought a mighty roar. After a three-putt bogey on the next birdies at the 11th and 14th kept the dream of a fourth win and seventh major alive, but from level par Faldo - 46 on Friday and making the cut then thanks only to a birdie at the 17th - bogeyed the 15th, 16th and 17th for a 70.

It was nevertheless his best Open since he was fourth at Lytham in 1996 and it came, of course, as he waits to become a father for the fourth time any time now.

Back to Curtis. On the long 14th his second found the left-hand rough, his third missed the green and after leaving his next 12 feet short he missed and with a bogey six Bjorn, having parred his last five holes, was level again.

At three under with four and six to play respectively, they were three clear once Singh, driving into sand on the 13th and being forced to splash out sideways, bogeyed and joined Woods on level par.

Bjorn had salvaged his par at the 12th after driving into a bunker and when Curtis went left at the 475-yard 15th, left his chip 22 feet short and missed, the lead was Bjorn's again.

Clubhouse leader at this stage were Londoner Brian Davis and Swede Fredrik Jacobson, though when both bogeyed the last to finish two over they knew they had next to no hope of the title.

That became no hope effectively when Bjorn pitched superbly to four feet at the 14th and holed for birdie and an advantage which grew from two to three when Curtis three-putted the 17th for a fourth bogey in six holes.

The job still had to be completed, though, especially when Bjorn drove into sand on the 15th and returned to three under and two in front with a bogey.

That was not too bad, but what followed on the 16th was - and set up yet another gripping climax to an Open.

Collated final scores (Gbr & Irl unless stated, Par 71) (x) denotes amateur:

283 Ben Curtis (USA) 72 72 70 69 (700,000 pounds)

284 Vijay Singh (Fij) 75 70 69 70, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 73 70 69 72 (345,000 each)

285 Tiger Woods (USA) 73 72 69 71, Davis Love III (USA) 69 72 72 72 (185,000 each)

286 Brian Davis 77 73 68 68, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 70 76 70 70 (134,500 each)

287 Nick Faldo 76 74 67 70, Kenny Perry (USA) 74 70 70 73 (97,750 each)

288 Hennie Otto (Rsa) 68 76 75 69, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 73 75 71 69, Gary Evans 71 75 70 72, Phillip Price 74 72 69 73, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 73 71 70 74 (68,000 each)

289 Chad Campbell (USA) 74 71 72 72, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 75 71 71 72, Pierre Fulke (Swe) 77 72 67 73 (49,333 each)

290 Greg Norman (Aus) 69 79 74 68, Tom Watson (USA) 71 77 73 69, Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 71 74 73 72, Ernie Els (Rsa) 78 68 72 72 (42,000 each)

291 Padraig Harrington 75 73 74 69, KJ Choi (Kor) 77 72 72 70, JL Lewis (USA) 78 70 72 71, Peter Fowler (Aus) 77 73 70 71, Thomas Levet (Fra) 71 73 74 73, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 75 73 70 73 (32,916 each)

292 Mike Weir (Can) 74 76 71 71, Andrew Oldcorn 72 74 73 73, Paul McGinley 77 73 69 73, Nick Price (Zim) 74 72 72 74, Mark Foster 73 73 72 74, SK Ho (Kor) 70 73 72 77 (26,000 each)

293 Stewart Cink (USA) 75 75 75 68, Bob Estes (USA) 77 71 76 69, Adam Mednick (Swe) 76 72 76 69, Shingo Katayama (Jpn) 76 73 73 71, Gary Murphy 73 74 73 73, Duffy Waldorf (USA) 76 73 71 73, Marco Ruiz (Par) 73 71 75 74, Jose Coceres (Arg) 77 70 72 74, Scott McCarron (USA) 71 74 73 75 (18,777 each)

294 Rich Beem (USA) 76 74 75 69, Robert Allenby (Aus) 73 75 74 72, Tom Byrum (USA) 77 72 71 74 (14,250 each)

295 Tom Lehman (USA) 77 73 72 73, Markus Brier (Aut) 76 71 74 74, Anthony Wall 75 74 71 75, Brad Faxon (USA) 77 73 70 75, Ian Poulter 78 72 70 75, Mathew Goggin (Aus) 76 72 70 77, Fred Couples (USA) 71 75 71 78 (11,864 each)

296 Mark McNulty (Zim) 79 71 77 69, Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 79 71 75 71, Michael Campbell (Nzl) 78 72 74 72, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 77 73 72 74, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 77 71 72 76, David Lynn 73 76 71 76 (10,200 each)

297 Alastair Forsyth 74 70 78 75, Craig Parry (Aus) 73 73 76 75, Skip Kendall (USA) 73 76 73 75, Darren Clarke 75 75 71 76, Phil Mickelson (USA) 74 72 73 78, Peter Lonard (Aus) 73 73 70 81 (9,550 each)

298 Stephen Leaney (Aus) 74 76 78 70, Mark O'Meara (USA) 73 77 77 71, Charles Howell III (USA) 71 76 77 74, Len Mattiace (USA) 74 75 74 75 (9,050 each)

300 Katsuyoshi Tomori (Jpn) 72 77 75 76 (8,800)

301 John Rollins (USA) 72 76 78 75 (8,700)

302 Chris Smith (USA) 74 73 76 79

303 Ian Wooosnam 73 75 80 75, John Daly (USA) 75 74 74 80