Andrew Oldcorn, a 150-1 outsider at the start of the week, threw off his journeyman tag to land one of the biggest titles - and biggest cheques - in European golf on Monday.

Holding off a revitalised Nick Faldo and a charging Angel Cabrera, Oldcorn moved within sight of a Ryder Cup debut in September by winning the Volvo PGA championship with two closing birdies at Wentworth.

It earned him £333,330 - almost twice what he has earned in any of his 17seasons as a professional - and nearly five times his previous largest cheque.

The 41-year-old, without a win since the 1995 Jersey Open and a conqueror of the energy-sapping ME virus, looked likely to be overhauled when his five-shot overnight lead was cut to one by Faldo with eight holes still to play.

Cheered on by a large section of the record 23,844 crowd, Faldo sensed a chance to end a barren run of his own going back to March 1997.

But in this battle of the over-40s (Faldo is now 43), Oldcorn came out on top. And when Cabrera finished birdie-eagle, Faldo did not even have the compensation of second.

"That might have cost me a Ryder Cup spot," Faldo reflected afterwards. Buthe was full of praise for Oldcorn.

"It was a great achievement by Andy. I've never seen the course as hard and bouncy as that and it was demanding a lot of finesse shots. When you are nervous that ain't easy."

An understandably emotional Oldcorn, the oldest winner of the title since Neil Coles in 1976, said: "Right now it feels like something I knew I was capable of doing, but it's taken me a lot longer than I thought.

"I've been through a lot of ups and downs and this feels marvellous."

His day was made complete by the fact that Bolton, his home town before moving to Edinburgh and switching his allegiance to Scotland, beat Preston to earn promotion to the Premiership.

There was an edge to his pleasure, though, because of what he read before he played the final round.

"A couple of disparaging comments got me going," he added. "Somebody called me third-rate, but I am testament to the strength and depth of the European Tour.

"Yes, you would have classified me as a journeyman, but a lot of guys onthis tour can play golf and I hope my victory here inspires others."

Oldcorn's manager Alan Maxwell died two months ago of cancer and he added: "He was a larger-than-life figure and a guiding light in my career.

"It might sound corny, but I felt his presence out there. My family and friends never lost sight of the fact that this day would come and neither did I.

"It makes me believe that I have a lot left in me.

"Now I have something else to aim for. We all know what it is (the Ryder Cup, of course) and this has given me the belief that I can do it."

Oldcorn, by his own admission playing defensively, managed only 37 for the front nine and saw his lead cut to two.

Faldo birdied the third, fourth and ninth, holing a bunker shot there, whereas the Scot bogeyed the seventh and then failed to get up and down two holes later from the very same bunker.

The gap became one when Faldo two-putted the long 12th, but Oldcorn later said that was the turning point for him.

"I knew he hadn't been up there for so long, but I thought that if a threat was going to come it was going to come from him.

"Seeing him get closer and closer made me play better and my composure onthe back nine was fantastic. I was totally in control and learnt my lessons from the past."

At the 1996 Irish Open he was one ahead with one to play, but rushed anddouble-bogeyed to let in Colin Montgomerie.

This time he chipped to four feet to match Faldo's birdie at the 12th andafter a series of crucial par-saving putts was on in two at the long 17th and two-putted for another birdie.

Faldo had birdied it too, but at the last the six-time Major winner left a chip from the rough on the fringe of the green and could not make the birdie he knew he needed to increase the pressure.

Cabrera then hit a two-iron to eight feet and holed it to reach 14 under, something which Oldcorn did not know until he pulled his second to the last against the hospitality unit by the green.

"Suddenly it was game on again, especially when I dropped the ball into a divot."

But he chipped to 10 feet - his shot of the week, he said - and made the putt for a 71 and 16 under aggregate of 272.

Faldo was still able to reflect on his best display for ages, though.

While Oldcorn went up from 98th to seventh in the cup table, Faldo improved from 40th to 18th. It would have been ninth if Cabrera had parred the last rather than eagled it.

"I came up a little short, but it was a great feeling to play so many good shots," said Faldo after his 67, the only bogey-free round of the day.

"I really enjoyed feeling the heat and hitting the shots. And Fanny (Sunesson) has been a great help." After 18 months apart the Swedish caddie has been back on the bag for three weeks now and she clearly enjoyed it as much as Faldo.

Faldo is adamant that he cannot change his schedule to improve his Ryder Cup chances, though. He returns to the States on Thursday and his next counting event is the US Open in a fortnight.

Oldcorn would have been there as well if he had climbed to second in theOrder of Merit. He was pipped for that by Kiwi Michael Campbell, who tied for fourth with Phil Price and Mathias Gronberg.

But missing out on that did not affect the celebrations one jot. Oldcorn is in the Open at Lytham, he has money to spend and he could now be in the Ryder Cup.

Collated final totals (Gbr and Irl unless stated, par 72):

272 A Oldcorn 66 66 69 71 (£333,330)

274 A Cabrera (Arg) 63 71 72 68 (£222,220)

275 N Faldo 72 66 70 67 (£125,200)

277 M Gronberg (Swe) 71 69 72 65, M Campbell (Nzl) 70 70 67 70, P Price 65 69 72 71 (£84,933 each)

278 V Singh (Fij) 73 65 70 70

279 P Baker 67 72 75 65, G Orr 74 67 69 69, D Clarke 72 69 68 70

280 D Robertson 68 68 75 69, S Webster 67 68 72 73, JM Olazabal (Spa) 72 68 67 73

281 S Dyson 68 72 72 69, J Senden (Aus) 71 67 72 71, N Fasth (Swe) 69 68 69 75

282 A Wall 70 70 72 70, C Montgomerie 73 69 69 71, R Green (Aus) 73 68 70 71, P Lawrie 69 68 72 7

283 A Hansen (Den) 71 70 72 70, I Woosnam 71 68 73 71, G Emerson 70 69 71 73, M Lundberg (Swe) 67 72 70 74, S Leaney (Aus) 70 64 74 75

284 T Levet (Fra) 72 71 72 69, P McGinley 66 74 73 71, I Garbutt 71 71 70 72, R Jacquelin (Fra) 69 68 74 73, P O'Malley (Aus) 69 71 71 73, D Borrego (Spa) 72 70 69 73

285 J Haeggman (Swe) 68 73 74 70, J Rose 72 69 73 71, M Brier (Aut) 72 71 71 71, A Scott (Aus) 70 69 74 72, G Owen 69 74 68 74, S Kjeldsen (Den) 71 66 72 76, A Coltart 68 69 71 77

286 C Hanell (Swe) 72 71 72 71, H Nystrom (Swe) 69 72 72 73, H Stenson (Swe) 76 66 71 73, R Muntz (Ned) 71 67 74 74, E Els (Rsa) 70 72 68 76, T Bjorn (Den) 68 69 72 77

287 D Lynn 72 71 75 69, C Rodiles (Spa) 69 70 78 70, P Sjoland (Swe) 70 73 74 70, J Bickerton 69 71 76 71, S Tinning (Den) 70 73 73 71, E Darcy 72 71 71 73, D Smyth 70 68 75 74, J Lomas 72 67 73 75, N Vanhootegem (Bel) 69 71 72 75, P Harrington 67 75 69 76

288 D Higgins 72 71 74 71, P Broadhurst 69 74 73 72, A Forsyth 67 73 75 73

289 R Russell 72 69 76 72, N O'Hern (Aus) 66 71 78 74, MA Martin (Spa) 69 70 75 75, S Hansen (Den) 71 70 73 75, D McGrane 68 72 70 79

290 J Hugo (Rsa) 72 70 75 73, W Bennett 71 68 76 75, P Lonard (Aus) 71 71 72 76, E Canonica (Ita) 71 70 72 77

291 P Fulke (Swe) 71 70 79 71, A Cejka (Ger) 73 70 75 73, R Karlsson (Swe) 72 70 73 76

293 G Evans 71 71 77 74

294 J Sandelin (Swe) 71 72 73 78

299 J Singh (Ind) 76 67 76 80