Jonathan Byrd could not hide his excitement at qualifying for the Open Championship after birdying three of his final five holes to win the John Deere Classic.

Byrd carded a five-under-par 66 at TPC Deere Run on Sunday to finish at 18-under 266, a shot ahead of South African Tim Clark.

The victory, the third of his career, earned Byrd a spot at Carnoustie this week as well as at next year's Masters.

He picked up 738,000 US dollars (£362,579) for the win but was even more excited about the perks.

"I haven't played in the British yet and every time I watch it on TV, I just can't wait to get over there," he said.

"I just love the thought of playing that type of golf.

"I haven't played The Masters since I think 2004, so obviously that's a sweet thought as well.

"I said I wanted to go out and play today just for today, so I just enjoyed it and was able to take the challenge and the opportunity and play really well coming down the stretch."

Byrd closed with birdies at the 14th, 16th and 17th to edge Clark, who fired a final-round 68.

Third-round leader Nathan Green (71) finished in a tie for third with Troy Matteson (66) at 15-under.

Clark had opened up a three-shot lead by the turn but eventually came up short in his search for a first PGA Tour victory.

"It's been a long time now. It's been six years out here without a win," he said.

"But I think with what I'm working on now, I feel like I'm a better player now than I was certainly last year or the year before.

"So, you know, hopefully it's my time."

Collated fourth round scores in the John Deere Classic, The TPC at Deere Run, United States of America (USA unless stated, par 71):

266 Jonathan Byrd 67 68 65 66

267 Tim Clark (Rsa) 68 65 66 68

269 Nathan Green (Aus) 67 63 68 71, Troy Matteson 69 67 67 66

270 Carl Pettersson (Swe) 67 64 71 68

271 Jason Dufner 65 66 72 68, Neal Lancaster 64 68 70 69, Jeff Gove 69 68 66 68, Kevin Sutherland 66 67 70 68, Heath Slocum 70 69 67 65

272 Kenny Perry 65 68 68 71, Michael Sim (Aus) 69 67 68 68, Billy Mayfair 69 66 67 70, Lucas Glover 71 69 65 67

273 J.P. Hayes 70 65 69 69, Stephen Leaney (Aus) 69 69 67 68, Briny Baird 67 70 68 68

274 Marco Dawson 68 72 69 65, Brian Gay 72 63 66 73, Greg Kraft 69 71 68 66, Tommy Armour III 69 70 68 67

275 Chris Stroud 71 67 68 69, Paul Stankowski 65 70 69 71, Ted Purdy 70 70 69 66, Darron Stiles 70 70 71 64, Chris Couch 68 69 72 66, George McNeill 71 69 70 65, Cameron Beckman 67 70 68 70, Tim Petrovic 68 68 72 67, Dicky Pride 70 69 67 69, Jesper Parnevik (Swe) 69 68 71 67

276 Bernhard Langer (Ger) 72 68 69 67, Tim Herron 69 69 71 67, Harrison Frazar 69 68 73 66, D. J. Trahan 67 68 71 70, Steve Allan (Aus) 71 66 70 69, Kevin Na (Kor) 68 69 72 67, Craig Lile (Rsa) 67 71 69 69, Scott Gutschewski 65 71 72 68, Brandt Snedeker 69 68 73 66,

277 Charles Warren 68 71 71 67, Kirk Triplett 67 72 69 69, Tom Byrum 69 70 71 67, Jeff Overton 70 66 69 72, Bob May 66 67 71 73, Richard S Johnson (Swe) 71 68 70 68, John Huston 70 68 72 67, Bob Heintz 67 70 71 69, Mark Brooks 70 68 66 73

278 Chris Tidland 69 69 69 71, Duffy Waldorf 65 68 73 72, Paul Goydos 67 71 74 66, Woody Austin 72 67 69 70

279 Chris Riley 72 67 72 68, John Merrick 72 67 70 70, Gavin Coles (Aus) 72 68 68 71

280 Tom Johnson 68 68 72 72, Paul Gow (Aus) 69 68 72 71, Phil Tataurangi (Nzl) 68 71 73 68, Joe Ogilvie 71 68 72 69, Brady Schnell 70 68 73 69

281 Brendon De Jonge 67 68 74 72, Kent Jones 67 72 72 70, Vance Veazey 69 69 73 70, Bronson LaCassie (Aus) 71 66 74 70, Jason Gore 69 68 78 66

282 Jay Williamson 70 70 69 73, Douglas Labelle 70 68 69 75

285 Jose Coceres (Arg) 71 69 71 74

288 Grant Waite (Nzl) 71 69 75 73

289 Jerry Smith 70 69 74 76, Jim Rutledge (Can) 72 68 73 76