Double Dutch scare

The 2007 season has already brought about a number of firsts - my debut at the Open Championship at Carnoustie, playing with Ernie and then Tiger in Dubai and now, to top all that, my first win on the European Tour. And it's not a week that I'll forget in a hurry.

We arrived at the Kennemer Golf and Country Club for the KLM Open on the back of a missed cut in Sweden but, after some reasonable stuff in practice, something just clicked on the Thursday. Starting at the 10th I parred my first hole, birdied the next four and walked off the ninth disappointed to card a bogey-free 66. The same thing happened on the Friday and Saturday, four early birdies on both days paved the way for something special but rounds of 'only' 67 and 68 would follow.

In the car on Saturday night my caddie Adam said 'I'm not being funny but nine-under is the worst score you could be. If you play like you have done then I can't see any other outcome than you winning' so that gave me a huge amount of confidence going into Sunday. Like Adam said I may have left a few shots out there but I was still tied for the lead and had a really good feeling for the final day.

All you want to do in a big round is get off to a good start. I was, needless to say, feeling apprehensive but a solid par putt at the first, a 10-footer for birdie at the next and an up-and-down par at the third settled any nerves. I had a lovely sense of calmness all day, brought about by the knowledge that my game was in really good shape and it's a lovely feeling to
be able to step up and hit the shot you want to hit time after time.

I'm not one to ignore the leaderboards and saw on the par-five seventh that I was a couple ahead. On the 11th I caught sight of the board behind the 16th, I was still two clear and extended that advantage with a two at the short hole. A four at the par-five 12th, which had already reaped a couple of birdies earlier in the week, and I would be four clear and holding a nice
lead. A uneventful, I thought ar the time, par five would follow, little did I know that it could have been a seven.

A big cheer went up as I was just about to putt at the 13th so I had a feeling that local favourite Joost Luiten had done something up but I kept my nerve and pulled off a fourth birdie of the day to keep moving in the right direction. Unfortunately, needing a run of pars to close out my nearest rivals, the 16th and 17th saw me coming back to the pack. Two three-putts, both of which I thought I had hit well but maybe misread a little bit, and a third birdie by Luiten in the last five holes meant I stood on the 18th tee at 11-under and tied for the lead.

This was not the time to be too hard on myself, instead I just tried to suck it up and trust my swing. My driving had been awesome all week and, thankfully, there was one more left in the locker and I ripped it over 330 yards down the final fairway.

That left me 66 yards from quite a tight lie but, again, I told myself to trust myself (and a new lob wedge) and nipped it off to nine feet. I knew this was massive but concentrated on putting a good stroke on it and to see it drop in on its last roll was something I'll always remember.

Adam grabbed me, what he said remains a blur, but to have him with me after all we've been through - China, South Africa, Singapore, Dubai and Wentworth - was pretty magical. Less special was the welcome that greeted me in the recorders' hut.

There wasn't even time to sit down before tour official Jose Maria Zamora informed me that there was a potential rules violation over whether I had moved a bramble near my ball at the 12th. I stood there for quarter of an hour watching the footage thinking 'Christ what's happening here?' and then got a buggy out to the hole. Thankfully after 45 minutes I was cleared of any wrongdoing and could finally celebrate.

After missing three flights and several mad dashes around Amsterdam airport my fiance finally picked me up from Gatwick late on Sunday night and we went to her parents where a dozen of us could enjoy a few drinks. The following day I went to see my mum and dad and family and then it was off to Gleneagles. It has been great having all your peers come and say well done and to get all the congratulatory texts and, to be honest, I would have been just happy to make the cut.

As it turned out that wasn't to be the case and I came up one too many but after the events of the previous weekend maybe a few days off wasn't such a bad thing.