Price victory at the K Club

Phillip Price has guaranteed he will not just be remembered as the man who beat Phil Mickelson at the Ryder Cup.

The 36-year-old Welshman's reaction to winning the Smurfit European Open at the K Club near Dublin showed the importance of the victory.

As he did against Mickelson last year, Price punched the air repeatedly after holing the winning putt that gave him a cheque for £333,330.

"I was nothing like as nervous as I was at the Ryder Cup, but that week didn't really give me that much confidence," he said. "This is where it's at. A four-round tournament is where you've got to learn your skills and winning a title as big as this gets the monkey off my back as regards the status of golfer people think I am."

Price, three clear with five to play, eventually had to chip and putt from behind the final green to win by one shot from Scotland's Alastair Forsyth and Zimbabwean Mark McNulty.

"It would have been nice to win by six, but it's difficult being out in front," he added. "Negativity creeps in and you get quite tentative.

"But I hung in there and just managed to keep my head down. To win this is an incredible achievement for me."