Nick Dougherty's maiden European Tour win was like something out of the movies for the Liverpudlian while for Colin Montgomerie, the man he beat, it was "unbelievable".

But the 22-year-old's victory in the 2005 Caltex Masters in Singapore is an undeniable fact, even if he was flattered by by the five-shot winning margin.

A final round 67 at the Laguna National Golf and Country club ensured a first win on the tour for Dougherty at 18 under par, with last year's winner Montgomerie settling for a share of second place with Holland's Maarten Lafeber.

Denmark's Thomas Björn, who completed the showpiece final three ball with Dougherty and Montgomerie, took fourth place on 11 under par after his closing 72.

Paul Lawrie and Lee Westwood were among the chasing pack at eight under but the attention centred on Dougherty who was staggered by his success.

"I am still a little shellshocked but it was picture perfect I suppose," said Dougherty who moves to second on the European Tour Order of Merit with 163,148 Euros (£113,603).

"To beat Monty and Thomas on a tough course with a fantastic crowd there and to win by five shots, that is really something special.

"It is something I have worked hard for. We've talked before about things I've done wrong, well here's one I've done right. I feel like I've earned this and hopefully it is a sign of many great things to come."

A protege of Nick Faldo, Dougherty revealed he had been sent a good luck text message by the six-time Major winner before he set off for the final round, in between calls from his father and his grandmother.

Beginning the day, two shots clear of Montgomerie and Bjorn, Dougherty was still in front at the turn while the Dane's challenge had fallen away with a double bogey at the second.

Three birdies on the back nine revived Bjorn's hopes but a double bogey after finding water at the short 17th ended his chances of victory.

That left Montgomerie and Dougherty to battle it out over the final four holes and, when the seven-time European number one birdied the 15th, the Englishman's lead had been whittled down to one shot.

The pressure looked to have taken its toll when Dougherty hit one of his worst shots of the weekend from the tee on the 16th, pulling his drive into a bunker while Montgomerie's ball sailed a course down the centre of the fairway.

However, because of the large wooden sleepers in the face of the bunker, Dougherty was allowed a free drop up on top out of the trap from where he bashed to within three feet from the pin.

Had he been in the sand, he would not have been allowed the drop but because his ball had skirted through the bunker and come to rest on the grass in front of the sleepers, he was allowed to take the drop under a local rule.

The ruling turned the tournament decisively in Dougherty's favour as he rolled in a birdie while Montgomerie three-putted for a bogey five.

The Scot could then only manage par on the 17th and a birdie on the 18th sealed victory for Dougherty.

"The ruling was the turning point," said Montgomerie. "I was one behind and in the middle of the fairway and he is in the bunker left, up the face of the bunker. Next minute you know he's three feet away.

"Then I catch a horrendous lie on the 17th where if you hit a thousand balls from that tee you are never going to get in that position and then on the 18th I'm in the middle of a divot and I duff it. I mean it is almost unbelievable.

"When you have a day, you have a day and it was Nick's day today. He played well. He attacked the pins when he had to attack the pins and did very well to play like that to win his first tournament, so good luck to him."

Collated fourth round scores in the Caltex Masters, presented by Carlsberg, Laguna National G&CC, Singapore (Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):

270 Nick Dougherty 68 67 68 67

275 Colin Montgomerie 65 71 69 70, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 69 70 67 69

277 Thomas Bjorn (Den) 72 66 67 72

280 Marcus Fraser (Aus) 71 70 70 69, Peter Lawrie 74 72 68 66, Robert Coles 72 69 71 68, Lee Westwood 70 73 70 67, Wen-chong Liang (Chn) 70 68 71 71, Gregory Havret (Fra) 70 70 69 71

281 Peter Hedblom (Swe) 71 69 66 75

282 Joong Kyung Mo (Kor) 72 72 68 70, Peter Senior (Aus) 72 71 70 69

283 James Kingston (Rsa) 73 73 68 69, Jamie Donaldson (Wal) 70 68 72 73, Paul Marantz (Aus) 73 68 71 71, Kim Felton (Aus) 70 73 69 71

284 Graeme McDowell 74 69 69 72, Soren Hansen (Den) 69 70 69 76, Angelo Que (Phi) 70 70 70 74

285 Phillipe Lima (Fra) 76 68 70 71, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 69 74 69 73, Anders Hansen (Den) 72 73 70 70, Lian-Wei Zhang (Chn) 72 72 70 71, Jason Knutzon (USA) 69 71 70 75, Barry Lane 73 73 71 68

286 Boonchu Ruangkit (Tha) 73 72 73 68, Yuan-chi Chen (Tpe) 72 72 71 71, Philip Golding 75 70 71 70, Fredrick Andersson (Swe) 75 69 75 67, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 73 71 72 70, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 74 72 71 69

287 Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 73 71 67 76, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 73 68 74 72, Thavorn Wiratchant (Tha) 74 72 69 72, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 69 73 73 72, Klas Eriksson (Swe) 74 71 70 72, Simon Yates 71 74 75 67, David Bransdon (Aus) 72 74 69 72, Mike Cunning (USA) 72 74 71 70, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 73 70 73 71, Scott Drummond (Sco) 72 74 70 71, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 76 70 71 70, Adam Groom (Aus) 69 72 75 71, Paul Lawrie 72 73 71 71, Danny Chia (Mya) 68 70 75 74, Greg Chalmers (Aus) 71 70 75 71, Raymond Russell 73 67 72 75, Marcus Both (Aus) 75 69 69 74, Brad Kennedy (Aus) 72 71 68 76, Graeme Storm 75 69 73 70

288 Steve Webster 74 70 72 72, Amandeep Johl (Ind) 74 72 70 72, Keng-chi Lin (Tai) 74 72 73 69

289 Corey Harris (USA) 75 69 69 76, Gwang-Soo Choi (Kor) 72 74 69 74, Simon Dyson 72 70 73 74, David Howell 73 72 70 74, Simon Khan 72 72 72 73, Edward Loar (USA) 74 71 75 69

290 Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 72 71 72 75, Edward Michaels (USA) 71 75 75 69, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 74 71 72 73, Peter Hanson (Swe) 76 68 72 74, Rick Gibson (Can) 72 70 71 77

291 Joakim Haeggman (Swe) 73 71 74 73, Joon Chung (Kor) 73 72 70 76, Costantino Rocca (Ita) 72 73 67 79, Mark Foster 68 76 71 76

292 Roger Chapman 72 71 74 75, Gerry Norquist (USA) 74 72 71 75, Eiji Mizuguchi (Jpn) 75 71 72 74, Harmeet Kahlon (Ind) 71 75 75 71, Brett Rumford (Aus) 69 72 77 74, Richard Bland 72 72 74 74, Hendrik Buhrmann (Rsa) 70 76 73 73

293 Markus Brier (Aut) 74 71 72 76, Rahil Gangjee (Ind) 77 69 74 73, Unho Park (Aus) 72 74 75 72, Ted Oh (Kor) 73 71 74 75

294 Pablo Del Olmo (Mex) 74 70 74 76, Eng-Wah Poh (Sin) 74 70 76 74, Gaurav Ghei (Ind) 74 72 74 74, Jamie Spence 71 75 74 74

295 Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 73 73 74 75

296 Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 72 72 80 72, Chawalit Plaphol (Tha) 74 69 84 69

297 Bill Fung (Sin) 75 68 76 78, Ross Bain 75 70 77 75

298 Sushi Ishigaki (Jpn) 73 68 76 81