Sweden's Adam Mednick won his first European Tour title on Sunday - the North West of Ireland Open at Ballyliffin.

Mednick carded a final-round 68 for a seven-under total of 281 and five-shot victory over former Ryder Cup players Costantino Rocca and Andrew Coltart.

Rocca, who won the inaugural event in Galway in 1999, was set for second on his own before a bogey following an errant drive on the last, after which he swung his driver in anger and caught playing partner Jean-Francois Lucquin a painful blow on the foot.

Thankfully it did the young Frenchman no harm and he parred the 18th to finish one under and in a tie for fourth with veteran Swede Anders Forsbrand.

Mednick, who feared his career could be over after suffering a back injury in 1995, was among 29 players who had to finish their third rounds this morning, completing his last five holes for a 69.

The 35-year-old then picked up two birdies in his first four holes to move into a lead he would never relinquish, and finished in style with birdies at the 17th and 18th to claim the £37,000 first prize and one-year tour exemption.

"This means the world to me," said Mednick whose great-grandparents emigrated from Russia to America where immigration officials did not like the family name of Mednikov so changed it to Mednick.

"I've not been getting many starts this year but now I can plan my season and next year as well. I've been playing well all year long and it's been building up. I told a friend last week to put some money on me and I hope he did and got good odds."

Mednick, who has won five times on the Challenge Tour, had to make a ninth visit to the qualifying school last year and finished 31st to regain his playing privileges for this season.

"I've been out here for a long time and been through a lot of ups and downs and it's great to be here where I am now," added Mednick whose highest finish on the Order of Merit was 163rd in his rookie season a decade ago.

"It's been something I've wanted to do for a long time but it's been a struggle for me.

"I had a back injury in 1995 and thought it was all over but the doctors told me it should be okay with a lot of stretching and exercise. I then qualified for the US Tour in 1997 and the European Tour but lost both my cards and had to play on the Swedish tour in 1998."

Coltart closed with a 67 that was just one shot outside the course record he set in the second round, and was well satisfied with his week's work.

"I was just looking for a little bit of confidence and I have picked up a bit," said Coltart, who was grateful for the chance to play to try to find some form this week after missing out on a fifth straight appearance in the USPGA Championship after his world ranking fell from 83rd to 185th.

"I'm pretty happy with that. You hit bad shots from time to time but I haven't dropped a shot today and doing that a couple of times this week is a good indication of how I have been playing.

"I'm starting to hole some putts and that makes a huge difference. I'm delighted with the way I've putted this week and it's a confidence boost going into the next few weeks."

Collated scores and totals after final round of the North West of Ireland Open, Ballyliffin Golf Club

(Gbr & Irl unless stated, Par 72)

(x) denotes amateurs:

281 Adam Mednick (Swe) 76 68 69 68 (£37,191)

286 Andrew Coltart 76 66 77 67, Costantino Rocca (Ita) 71 69 74 72 (£19,380 each)

287 Anders Forsbrand (Swe) 71 73 75 68, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 75 67 74 71 (£10,310 each)

288 Adam Crawford (Aus) 77 68 75 68, Philip Walton 75 70 71 72, Massimo Florioli (Ita) 71 70 71 76 (£6,694 each)

290 Joakim Rask (Swe) 75 72 75 68

292 Michele Reale (Ita) 78 68 73 73

293 Paul Broadhurst 76 72 74 71, Titch Moore (Rsa) 73 74 75 71, David Park 75 72 77 69, Mark Sanders 72 72 79 70, Jesus Maria Arruti (Spa) 71 72 78 72, Allan Hogh (Den) 71 72 79 71

294 Andrew Oldcorn 77 69 75 73, Per Nyman (Swe) 76 69 80 69

296 Didier De Vooght (Bel) 78 69 80 69, Ciaran McMonagle 74 72 80 70, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 75 71 78 72, Iain Pyman 76 70 78 72, Pehr Magnebrant (Swe) 72 73 78 73

297 Alexander Renard (Den) 77 71 80 69, Euan Little 74 73 77 73

298 Hennie Walters (Rsa) 77 74 78 69, Regis Gustave (St Lucia) 79 71 76 72, Michael Archer 78 71 82 67, James Kingston (Rsa) 77 70 76 75

299 Van Phillips 83 68 78 70, Mattias Nilsson (Swe) 80 70 79 70, Ian Hutchings (Rsa) 78 72 76 73, Sion Bebb 78 72 81 68, Oskar Bergman (Swe) 80 70 78 71, Marco Bernardini (Ita) 76 71 78 74, Damien McGrane 72 73 80 74

300 Kristofer Svensson (Swe) 76 73 81 70, Simon Khan 74 72 83 71

301 Gianluca Baruffaldi (Ita) 81 69 78 73, Andrew Sherborne 78 72 80 71, Graham Fox 81 69 77 74, Andrew Butterfield 81 69 80 71, Knud Storgaard (Den) 76 73 80 72, Denny Lucas 76 71 82 72

302 James Hepworth 76 74 81 71, Alan McLean 78 72 76 76, John Dwyer 75 75 82 70, Tomas Jesus Munoz (Spa) 76 73 83 70, Kariem Baraka (Ger) 78 71 85 68, Tino Schuster (Ger) 79 69 81 73, Francis Howley 75 73 78 76

303 Simon Hurd 79 71 79 74, Benn Barham 74 76 80 73, David Geall 81 69 80 73, Michael Hoey 77 71 83 72, Carl Suneson (Spa) 76 72 79 76

304 Sam Little 76 74 80 74, Fredrik Henge (Swe) 75 75 83 71, Richard Dinsdale 77 71 82 74, Olivier Edmond (Fra) 77 69 77 81

305 Andreas Ljunggren (Swe) 79 72 83 71, Bradford Vaughan (Rsa) 77 74 80 74, Marc Pendaries (Fra) 79 72 81 73, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 77 73 80 75, Grant Hamerton 75 75 82 73

306 David Dixon 78 73 84 71, Thomas Norret (Den) 79 72 82 73, Luis Claverie (Spa) 76 74 81 75, Michael Welch 74 73 84 75

307 Federico Bisazza (Ita) 76 75 82 74, Ivo Giner (Spa) 78 73 85 71, David Patrick 75 76 83 73, Fredrik Widmark (Swe) 75 76 83 73, Jamie Little 77 74 87 69, Marcus Knight (Swi) 77 70 80 80

308 Gustavo Rojas (Arg) 79 72 85 72

309 Stefano Reale (Ita) 81 70 82 76, Raimo Sjoberg (Swe) 79 72 87 71

310 Guido Van Der Valk (Ned) 78 73 83 76, Gary Murphy 78 73 85 74, Scott Gardiner (Aus) 76 74 86 74, Kalle Brink (Swe) 78 71 91 70, Andre Bossert (Swi) 76 72 86 76

311 Francesco Guermani (Ita) 80 70 85 76

312 Niels Kraiij (Ned) 72 79 86 75, Joakim Gronhagen (Swe) 78 73 82 79

314 Thomas Besancenez (Fra) 77 74 87 76