Poulter turns on the style to fend off Montgomerie

Flamboyant Englishman warms up for next week's USPGA Championship by clinching inaugural Nordic Open

Ian Poulter let his golf rather than his hair hog the headlines with his second win of the season in the first Nordic Open here.

Poulter carded a final-round 66 for a 22-under-par total of 266, one shot ahead of Colin Montgomerie. The former European No 1 had a chance to force a play-off on the last but left his birdie putt short from 15 feet - while his playing partner, Soren Hansen, birdied the last three holes to claim a share of third with Montgomerie's fellow Scotsman 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 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.

"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," he added. "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 (£95) 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'," said Poulter before his flight to the United States.

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. They 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. When Montgomerie again got within a shot, Poulter's sixth birdie of the day on the 15th took him two ahead again.

Montgomerie closed the gap to one shot again 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 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 pulling out of the Open after seven holes of his first round with a hand injury, said: "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."

* Sophie Gustafson tapped in a routine par putt on the third play-off hole to beat Suzann Pettersen and win the HP Open in Stockholm for the first time. The defending champion, Annika Sorenstam, finished two strokes back while Laura Davies shared fourth at 276 with Becky Morgan of Wales.

FINAL SCORES FROM DENMARK

NORDIC OPEN (Copenhagen) Final scores (GB or Irl unless stated): 266 I Poulter 68 67 65 66 (£187,002). 267 C Montgomerie 70 65 64 68 (£124,666). 268 S Gallacher 71 65 69 63; G Havret (Fr) 68 63 69 68; S Hansen (Den) 71 66 62 69 (£57,638 each). 269 B Davis 66 68 67 68 (£39,271). 270 D Gilford 66 67 67 70 (£33,661). 271 S Webster 66 71 69 65; M Olander (Swe) 66 73 65 67; M A Jimenez (Sp) 65 70 68 68; P Sjoland (Swe) 69 64 68 70. 272 J Clement (Swit) 70 70 68 64. 273 P Lawrie 69 66 73 65; H Bjornstad (Nor) 72 69 66 66; A Coltart 66 69 69 69. 274 P Hedblom (Swe) 70 68 69 67; M Tunnicliff 73 64 68 69. 275 T Bjorn (Den) 67 69 72 67; M Lafeber (Neth) 72 69 66 68; M Foster 69 68 67 71; K Na (Kor) 70 64 69 72. 276 S Kjeldsen (Den) 68 72 69 67; P Jespersen (Den) 68 68 71 69; D Park 67 71 68 70. 277 S Scahill (NZ) 70 68 74 65; M Fraser (Aus) 68 70 72 67; A Tadini (It) 72 67 70 68; J Berendt (Arg) 70 71 68 68; R Jacquelin (Fr) 62 72 74 69; N Colsaerts (Bel) 73 68 67 69; G Turner (NZ) 67 72 68 70; P O'Malley (Aus) 70 70 67 70; F Delamontagne (Fr) 67 70 69 71; J Bickerton 67 70 67 73; F Widmark (Swe) 67 70 67 73. 278 G Rojas (Arg) 72 69 71 66; B Barham 72 66 73 67; D Dixon 70 69 71 68; P Baker 67 72 70 69; J Spence 69 72 68 69; S Dyson 71 70 66 71; M Mackenzie 72 67 67 72. 279 D McGrane 71 69 71 68; T Price (Aus) 71 69 69 70; C Cevaer (Fra) 68 71 69 71; M Eliasson (Swe) 72 69 67 71; J Lomas 69 65 73 72; M Cort 68 70 69 72; D Lynn 67 66 73 73. 280 F Andersson (Swe) 70 68 73 69; J L Guepy (Fr) 69 72 70 69; D Howell 72 68 70 70; A Raitt 66 68 74 72; P Golding 67 69 72 72; R Russell 65 72 71 72; P Archer 65 69 71 75. 281 J Hugo (SA) 71 69 72 69; S Tinning (Den) 72 68 71 70; B Lane 72 66 72 71; S Webster 69 68 72 72; D Carter 69 70 70 72. 282 F Roca (Sp) 70 71 74 67; R Chapman 68 70 75 69; M Siem (Ger) 73 68 72 69; R-J Derksen (Neth) 68 72 72 70; M A Martin (Sp) 70 70 71 71; P Nyman (Swe) 73 68 70 71; C Gane 70 68 71 73. 283 K Eriksson (Swe) 68 69 76 70; S Struver (Ger) 68 73 72 70; R Karlsson (Swe) 67 72 71 73; M Blackey 72 69 69 73; M Archer 69 69 70 75; J-A Larsen (Den) 68 70 70 75; T Dier (Ger) 67 67 73 76. 284 J Donaldson 69 69 77 69; S Little 69 70 71 74; J M Lara (Sp) 73 68 69 74. 285 R Muntz (Neth) 73 67 75 70; T Moore (SA) 71 70 74 70; G McDowell 73 68 73 71. 286 N Dougherty 71 70 71 74; E Canonica (It) 72 67 71 76. 287 J Rystrom (Swe) 69 72 76 70; J-F Lucquin (Fr) 71 70 75 71. 288 B Mason 73 68 75 72.