After only one win in his first 309 European Tour events, Dane Soren Kjeldsen made it two in his last nine in Seville on Sunday.

Four months after capturing the Volvo Masters, the diminutive 33-year-old returned to Spain and triumphed in the Andalucian Open by three strokes from Scotland's David Drysdale.

It was far closer than that suggests, however.

Level with three to play, Kjeldsen went into the lake with his second shot to the long 16th and had to make an 18-footer to stay on terms.

He then holed from even further for a brilliant two at the 226-yard 17th and, with Drysdale failing to get up and down from a greenside bunker, there was a two-shot gap coming to the last.

The Edinburgh golfer, third in Johannesburg in January, was trying for his first Tour victory in 166 starts but, after finding more sand with his closing drive, he hit his second into the water and double-bogeyed.

"I'm a bit gutted about that," said Drysdale, who closed with a 74 for 11 under par.

"It was quite a good battle and it's just a shame not to hit any decent shots when I really needed to.

"I hit poor tee shots on 16, 17 and 18. When you have to hit the fairways, I started missing them."

After 10 visits to the qualifying school, however, his runners-up cheque for just over £104,000 should spare him a return at the end of the season.

Kjeldsen, who three-putted the last for bogey, picked up £156,000 and now heads to Augusta for his Masters debut at his highest-ever position in the world - just outside the top 40.

He qualified for Augusta by finishing last year 50th in the world rankings - by one-hundredth of a point.

"I was told I was in by a guy who writes a website in Denmark, then he called again to say that he had it wrong and if Richard Sterne won in South Africa I would be 51st," he told PA Sport.

"I watched him make tons of birdies on the back nine, then win in a play-off, so went on a 10-mile run on the beach screaming and shouting.

"I came back, settled down, went to bed and then the same guy rang at midnight to say he had it wrong and I was in.

"I was completely drained but it's a dream to play there and I already have the invitation framed."

His closing 72 was 10 more than his career-best, course-record third round but it was much windier and colder and there was some rain to contend with, too.

It became a two-horse race when Scot Alastair Forsyth and Welshman Rhys Davies, three behind at the time, took seven and six respectively on the 428-yard 14th.

That allowed England's Graeme Storm and Italian Francesco Molinari to share third place on 10 under but Colin Montgomerie, second after his opening 67, finished his 500th Tour event as a professional down in 31st spot and unhappy about the number of mental mistakes he made.

He will not want to make any as Ryder Cup captain, of course.

Kjeldsen, who on his last start was seventh at the WGC-CA Championship in Miami, said: "I'm not happy with the way I hit the ball and I knew I had to hole good putts.

"To be honest, I was very nervous all day. I knew it was going to be a tough day and it was.

"But I never lost patience and belief. I felt like I was giving it away after a horrific shot on 16 but I had to grit my teeth and it was great to make that putt there and play 17 the way I did."

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

274 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 68 72 62 72

277 David Drysdale 70 67 66 74

278 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 72 68 68 70, Graeme Storm 70 66 73 69

279 Alastair Forsyth 74 64 68 73

280 Marcel Siem (Ger) 68 67 73 72, Andrew Coltart 68 73 69 70, Rhys Davies 75 67 68 70

281 Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 70 72 69 70, John E Morgan 70 73 69 69

282 Anders Hansen (Den) 72 70 71 69, Soren Hansen (Den) 75 69 69 69, Christopher Doak 66 73 74 69

283 Carlos Del Moral (Spa) 70 67 69 77, Stephen Dodd 68 72 72 71, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 68 70 71 74, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 74 65 73 71, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 71 71 69 72, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 68 70 71 74, Thomas Levet (Fra) 70 71 70 72

284 Raul Quiros (Spa) 70 69 71 74, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 72 71 69 72, Markus Brier (Aut) 70 71 71 72, Miles Tunnicliff 70 71 71 72

285 Inder Van Weerelt (Ned) 74 70 68 73, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 69 73 68 75

286 Marcus Higley 71 71 74 70

287 Alexandre Rocha (Bra) 75 67 73 72, Ake Nilsson (Rsa) 70 70 71 76, Matthew Mllar (Aus) 70 70 75 72

288 Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 74 66 72 76, Christian Nilsson (Swe) 71 69 71 77, Colin Montgomerie 67 72 75 74, Per-Ulrik Johansson (Swe) 73 68 72 75

289 Peter Hanson (Swe) 72 72 74 71, Carl Suneson (Spa) 70 71 73 75, Steve Webster 73 70 75 71, Jan Are Larsen (Nor) 70 70 72 77, Michael Jonzon (Swe) 69 68 76 76, Jamie Donaldson 69 75 70 75

290 David Howell 72 70 75 73, Birgir Hafthorsson (Ice) 69 73 75 73, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 67 69 76 78, Steven O'Hara 67 76 73 74, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 71 67 76 76, Simon Khan 72 70 73 75

291 Jesus Maria Arruti (Spa) 69 72 76 74, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 70 70 73 78, Nick Dougherty 72 71 72 76, Danny Willett 74 68 73 76, Bradley Dredge 70 73 76 72

292 Jeppe Huldahl (Den) 71 68 76 77, Miguel Angel Martin (Spa) 71 70 75 76, Simon Wakefield 70 73 73 76

293 Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 72 69 73 79

294 Anthony Wall 75 69 77 73, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 72 71 73 78, Gregory Havret (Fra) 70 74 76 74

295 Christian Cevaer (Fra) 71 70 75 79, Marco Ruiz (Par) 69 73 73 80, Callum Macaulay 74 70 78 73, Stuart Davis 73 70 79 73

296 Wil Besseling (Ned) 73 70 78 75, Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 70 74 71 81, David Lynn 72 71 73 80, Seve Benson 70 74 75 77

299 Pelle Edberg (Swe) 73 69 76 81

301 Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 71 72 79 79

306 Barry Lane 75 69 77 85