Ian Poulter, sporting red streaks in his hair to celebrate Arsenal's FA Cup win and to match his Ferrari, drove off with the £250,000 first prize after a three-shot victory in the £1.5million Wales Open.

Poulter survived a late stumble for the second day in succession to card a final-round 70 for an 18-under-par total of 270 at Celtic Manor.

Jonathan Lomas, Australian Jarrod Moseley and South African Darren Fichardt shared second place on 15 under, Moseley's bogey on the 18th costing him outright second and £55,000.

The fans hoping to see local favourite Phil Price secure a home victory left disappointed after the Ryder Cup hero faded to a closing 74 to finish six shots adrift of playing partner Poulter.

Poulter, battling a bout of tonsillitis all week, was never headed from the moment he equalled the course record with a 65 in the first round, a record subsequently beaten by Moseley's 63 on Saturday.

The winner's cheque lifted the 27-year-old from Milton Keynes from 135th on the Order of Merit to 14th, and maintains his record of winning a tournament every year since 2000, when he was also the tour's rookie of the year.

It also confirmed he had made the right decision in seeking to change his swing under the guidance of coach David Leadbetter, and puts him firmly back among the group of bright English prospects alongside close friend Justin Rose, Paul Casey, Luke Donald and Nick Dougherty.

"I'm back," was Poulter's typically confident statement after ending a run of five missed cuts in six events in style. "When you go through a bad spell people tend to forget about you but if you stick in and work hard you should be back in no time.

"I'm definitely moving in the right direction and it was definitely the right decision to change my swing. I had a few bad weeks and this just proves the work I have done is paying off."

Rose, who will defend the British Masters title he pipped Poulter to next week, was one of the first to congratulate the winner as he left the 18th green.

"I spoke to him all week and he was keeping an eye on me," said Poulter. "He's doing a company day here on Monday and it was really nice that he got here a few hours earlier than he needed to to watch the last few holes.

"He was really happy for me and I would be likewise the next time he wins. I'm sure we will have some fun when there's a week off shortly."

Poulter also won his first tour title in Morocco while suffering with tonsillitis and admitted he was unsure whether to have them removed at the end of the year.

"I probably shouldn't have played in the pro-am on Wednesday and to shoot the score I did on Thursday was amazing," he added.

Poulter began the day two shots clear of Price and extended his cushion to three with a birdie on the second after a superb chip from just off the green.

Cheered on by the home crowd however, Price hit back with birdies on the third and fifth to close the gap to one, but a bogey on the next gave Poulter breathing space again.

Price also bogeyed the eighth and was replaced as Poulter's main challenger by Moseley, who had picked up shots at the third, fifth and sixth to lie two shots back.

Moseley then briefly reduced his deficit to one with a birdie on the 11th, only for Poulter to go one better in the group behind with a 60ft eagle - the only one at the hole all week.

Poulter had been six shots clear after 13 holes of the third round only to drop four shots in the next three holes, and he fell foul of the same stretch again in round four.

He bogeyed the 15th after finding a greenside bunker and dropped another shot at the next - where he took six on Saturday - after again going through the back of the green.

That cut his lead back to one, but when Moseley found trouble off the tee on the last and could only bogey, Poulter's birdie was simply the icing on the cake.

Joint runner-up Lomas, born in Chesterfield but based in Ayrshire, collected the second biggest cheque of his career for £111,853 after his closing 68, more than enough to secure his card for next season.

"I had a terrible start to the season so it is nice to have a good week," said the 35-year-old son of a chicken farmer. "I have played a lot of golf, perhaps too much golf, looking for that result and trying to get the card safe so I'm delighted.

"It was nerve wracking but when you are nervous that is usually a good sign. I just had to trust my swing and I hit a lot of good shots, and I'm glad I birdied the last because that made a big difference between fourth or joint second."

Moseley was certainly left to rue the massive difference between outright second or a three-way tie, a poor tee shot on the 72nd hole to blame.

"The game dishes out these things now and again," said the 30-year-old from Perth. "I shouldn't have hit my drive over there but to hit the last limb on the top of the tree with my second shot, it's that sort of game.

"It came out pretty well but caught the last branch and flung it over behind the pine trees. I had a tough lie with my third shot and did a pretty good job with the rest.

"I'm happy with the way I'm playing I just got a tough break on the last."

Collated scores and totals (Gbr & Irl unless stated, Par 72, (x) denotes amateur):

270 Ian Poulter 65 67 68 70 (£250,000 pds)

273 Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 68 67 70 68, Jonathan Lomas 66 71 68 68, Jarrod Moseley (Aus) 74 67 63 69 (£111,853 each)

275 Mark McNulty (Zim) 69 67 69 70, Andrew Coltart 68 69 67 71 (£58,050 each)

276 Santiago Luna (Spa) 68 69 70 69, Peter Fowler (Aus) 67 72 68 69, Phillip Price 68 66 68 74

278 Iain Pyman 73 67 68 70, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 67 73 68 70, Jamie Donaldson 68 71 68 71, Bradley Dredge 71 69 67 71, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 71 68 64 75

279 Richard Green (Aus) 67 70 72 70, Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra) 68 72 69 70, Roger Chapman 74 68 67 70

280 Terry Price (Aus) 71 71 68 70, Peter Lawrie 68 75 67 70, Christian Cevaer (Fra) 71 72 65 72

281 Arjun Atwal (Ind) 75 68 72 66, Graeme McDowell 70 72 72 67, David Drysdale 68 70 73 70, Stephen Gallacher 70 72 69 70, Barry Lane 69 71 66 75

282 Paul Broadhurst 72 70 72 68, Stephen Dodd 70 71 71 70, Sven Struver (Ger) 68 72 71 71, Steve Webster 70 70 69 73, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 65 72 70 75

283 Nick Dougherty 72 70 72 69, Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 69 70 73 71, Greg Owen 74 68 70 71, Diego Borrego (Spa) 71 72 69 71, David Howell 70 69 71 73, Philip Golding 72 69 69 73, Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 72 69 69 73

284 Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 69 70 76 70, Martin Maritz (Rsa) 74 68 70 72, Malcolm Mackenzie 67 73 70 74

285 David Park 70 72 74 69, Alastair Forsyth 67 73 75 70, Robert Rock 70 71 73 71, Anthony Wall 72 70 72 71, Julien Clement (Swi) 71 72 70 72, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 71 70 70 74, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 69 74 68 74

286 Ian Garbutt 72 71 77 66, Marc Farry (Fra) 73 70 73 70, Gregory Havret (Fra) 68 73 74 71, Barry Austin 68 74 73 71, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 72 70 73 71, Julien Van Hauwe (Fra) 68 75 72 71, Simon Wakefield 69 71 72 74, Stephen Scahill (Nzl) 71 69 72 74, Richard Bland 72 69 71 74, Marten Olander (Swe) 74 67 70 75, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 67 71 72 76

287 Sandy Lyle 70 70 76 71, Peter Baker 74 69 73 71, David Dixon 72 69 74 72, Klas Eriksson (Swe) 68 72 74 73, Anders Hansen (Den) 73 70 71 73, Jesus Maria Arruti (Spa) 68 69 76 74, Fredrik Orest (Swe) 70 73 70 74

288 Michael Campbell (Nzl) 69 73 70 76, Philip Archer 67 73 70 78

289 Simon Hurd 70 72 74 73, Miles Tunnicliff 70 70 74 75, Henrik Bjornstad (Nor) 73 67 72 77

290 Euan Little 73 70 74 73, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 69 73 69 79

291 Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 74 69 75 73, Shaun Webster 72 71 74 74, Robert-Jan Derksen (Ned) 70 73 72 76, Jamie Spence 71 71 71 78

294 Fredrik Widmark (Swe) 69 73 80 72, Gary Murphy 69 74 77 74

296 Benn Barham 73 69 78 76