Ian Poulter let his golf rather than his hair grab the headlines with his second victory of the season in the inaugural Nordic Open in Copenhagen.

Poulter carded a final-round 66 for a 22-under-par total of 266, one shot ahead of former European number one Colin Montgomerie.

The Scot had a chance to force a play-off on the last but left his birdie putt short from 15 feet - while playing partner Soren Hansen birdied the last three holes to claim a share of third with Montgomerie's compatriot Stephen Gallacher and France's Gregory Havret.

Poulter, who had red streaks in his hair during his Celtic Manor Wales Open win earlier this year, arrived in Denmark sporting a bizarre style with blond and dark brown stripes.

But his golf was equally eye-catching as he carded four rounds in the 60s, and he said: "It was nice to let the golf actually do all the work and stop people talking about the hair."

Poulter collected the first prize of £187,000 for his fifth tour title, and with it a timely confidence boost for the USPGA Championship at Oak Hill - the final major of the year which begins on Thursday.

"I have massive expectations of the USPGA now," he added.

"I'm very, very confident the way I played this week.

"I really hit some fantastic shots all week and very few off line. Obviously the course next week is going to be a lot tougher, but if I keep hitting the middle of the fairways and holing some putts I'm really looking forward to a big couple of weeks.

"I came here after eight days without touching a club and hit it badly on Monday, rustily on Tuesday and started to get the feeling back on Wednesday. It shows all the work I've been doing with David Leadbetter is paying off."

Poulter's win also paid off for a local woman who had bet 1,000 Danish Kroner (approx. £100) on him at odds of 22/1 at the start of the week.

"I was having dinner last night in an Italian restaurant when she just passed me this betting slip and said 'You had better win'," revealed Poulter, before dashing to catch his flight to America.

The 27-year-old from Hertfordshire began the day one shot off the pace, but birdies at the second and eighth got him into a tie for the lead alongside Brian Davis and Montgomerie.

That duo both then bogeyed the ninth, and Poulter's birdie from four feet on the 11th briefly took him two ahead of the field.

The gap was quickly closed to a single shot. But Poulter doubled it again with two putts for birdie on the par-five 12th. Then when Montgomerie again got within a shot his sixth birdie of the day on the 15th took Poulter two ahead again.

Montgomerie closed the gap to one shot once more with a birdie on the 17th - and with Poulter failing to birdie either of the closing par-fives for the third day out of four, the 40-year-old Scot had a chance to force extra holes.

His drive almost found a fairway bunker, however, and he was unable to reach the green in two - his pitch coming up 15 feet short and the putt never threatening the hole.

Montgomerie, playing his first event since being forced to pull out of the Open after seven holes of his first round with a hand injury, said: "I was given a chance by Ian when he parred the last three holes, which are all birdie opportunities.

"My playing partner Soren birdied all three. I needed two - but I only got one.

"I didn't quite get the momentum and didn't have the feel with the putter. I left too many short this week, including the one on the last for a tie.

"But it's coming back and it's good after three weeks off that I've competed well. It's a good start to the back end of the year because the front end did not exist.

"Winning is nice, but if you can't win you finish second. To be two under after the first day and get to 21 under is very good."

Gallacher stormed through the field with a closing 63, the best of the day, after discovering more self-belief.

"I had a long conversation with my psychologist because I felt I was giving away shots and was doubting myself," said the 28-year-old, nephew of former Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher.

"We worked out a drill for getting the job done, and I've shot my lowest round on tour. I've struggled for the last four weeks but made three cuts and some good finishes. You've got to learn from that and get into contention more.

"That was my goal at the start of the year. You can't force these things - but when you've been there you get a taste for it."

Collated scores (Gbr&Irl unless stated, Par 72) (x) denotes amateurs

266 Ian Poulter 68 67 65 66 (£187,002)

267 Colin Montgomerie 70 65 64 68 (£124,666)

268 Stephen Gallacher 71 65 69 63, Gregory Havret (Fra) 68 63 69 68, Soren Hansen (Den) 71 66 62 69 (£57,638 each)

269 Brian Davis 66 68 67 68 (£39,271)

270 David Gilford 66 67 67 70 (£33,661)

271 Steve Webster 66 71 69 65, Marten Olander (Swe) 66 73 65 67, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 65 70 68 68, Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 69 64 68 70

272 Julien Clement (Swi) 70 70 68 64

273 Peter Lawrie 69 66 73 65, Henrik Bjornstad (Nor) 72 69 66 66, Andrew Coltart 66 69 69 69

274 Peter Hedblom (Swe) 70 68 69 67, Miles Tunnicliff 73 64 68 69

275 Thomas Bjorn (Den) 67 69 72 67, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 72 69 66 68, Mark Foster 69 68 67 71, Kevin Na (Kor) 70 64 69 72

276 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 68 72 69 67, Peter Jespersen (Den) 68 68 71 69, David Park 67 71 68 70

277 Stephen Scahill (Nzl) 70 68 74 65, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 68 70 72 67, Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 72 67 70 68, Jorge Berendt (Arg) 70 71 68 68, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 62 72 74 69, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 73 68 67 69, Greg Turner (Nzl) 67 72 68 70, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 70 70 67 70, Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 67 70 69 71, John Bickerton 67 70 67 73, Fredrik Widmark (Swe) 67 70 67 73

278 Gustavo Rojas (Arg) 72 69 71 66, Benn Barham 72 66 73 67, David Dixon 70 69 71 68, Peter Baker 67 72 70 69, Jamie Spence 69 72 68 69, Simon Dyson 71 70 66 71, Malcolm Mackenzie 72 67 67 72

279 Damien McGrane 71 69 71 68, Terry Price (Aus) 71 69 69 70, Christian Cevaer (Fra) 68 71 69 71, Mattias Eliasson (Swe) 72 69 67 71, Jonathan Lomas 69 65 73 72, Matthew Cort 68 70 69 72, David Lynn 67 66 73 73

280 Fredrik Andersson (Swe) 70 68 73 69, Jean Louis Guepy (Fra) 69 72 70 69, David Howell 72 68 70 70, Andrew Raitt 66 68 74 72, Philip Golding 67 69 72 72, Raymond Russell 65 72 71 72, Phillip Archer 65 69 71 75

281 Jean Hugo (Rsa) 71 69 72 69, Steen Tinning (Den) 72 68 71 70, Barry Lane 72 66 72 71, Shaun Webster 69 68 72 72, David Carter 69 70 70 72

282 Fernando Roca (Spa) 70 71 74 67, Roger Chapman 68 70 75 69, Marcel Siem (Ger) 73 68 72 69, Robert-Jan Derksen (Ned) 68 72 72 70, Miguel Angel Martin (Spa) 70 70 71 71, Per Nyman (Swe) 73 68 70 71, Chris Gane 70 68 71 73

283 Klas Eriksson (Swe) 68 69 76 70, Sven Struver (Ger) 68 73 72 70, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 67 72 71 73, Matthew Blackey 72 69 69 73, Michael Archer 69 69 70 75, Jan-Are Larsen (Den) 68 70 70 75, Tobias Dier (Ger) 67 67 73 76

284 Jamie Donaldson 69 69 77 69, Stuart Little 69 70 71 74, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 73 68 69 74

285 Rolf Muntz (Ned) 73 67 75 70, Titch Moore (Rsa) 71 70 74 70, Graeme McDowell 73 68 73 71

286 Nick Dougherty 71 70 71 74, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 72 67 71 76

287 Johan Rystrom (Swe) 69 72 76 70, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 71 70 75 71

288 Ben Mason 73 68 75 72