Dramatic growth for a nation and a tournament, both relatively new to golf, were reflected yesterday in Sweden's third successive triumph in the Smurfit European Open. Mathias Gronberg claimed a record first prize of £208,300 in capturing the title here, by a crushing 10-stroke margin.

The gap, one stroke short of the European record, matched the achievement of Bernhard Langer in the 1987 Irish Open at Portmarnock. And Gronberg's success in overcoming cruelly hostile weather for a final round of 69 and a 13-under-par aggregate of 275, emphasised the superb quality of the course.

Meanwhile, it was a measure of the significant rewards on offer that Darren Clarke, in fourth place, could feel disappointed at a cheque for £62,500. But his eye is on a much bigger prize. "I knew I had to finish second here to go to the top of the Order of Merit," he said.

The Tyroneman staged a brave fight, with birdies at the 16th and 17th. But a bunkered drive on the last effectively scuppered his chance of the eagle-finish he needed to overtake Order of Merit leader Lee Westwood. Instead, he remains in second place but is now only £56,662 behind the Englishman.

Despite heavy morning rain which developed into torrential showers, broken by remarkable periods of sunshine, there was never a danger of the course flooding. So it was ironic that in mid-afternoon, it became necessary to stop play for 40 minutes due to the threat of lightning.

The leader, who was on the 11th at the time, finished the hole with a bogey, which was no more than a misplaced step on his victory march. But it was a rather different matter for Sam Torrance. He left the 17th green facing an 18inch putt for par and on his return, missed it. The slip cost him almost £10,000 - the difference between a share of seventh and 10th place - causing him to remark: "I'm really sick."

This was the third tournament victory of the season by Swedish players, who are fast building a strong tradition in the game. And their latest champion admitted that the success of Per-Ulrik Johansson here over the last two years, "made it easier for me to win."

While Gronberg shared a modest hotel room with compatriot Pierre Fulke this week, Johansson was ensconsed in the five-star luxury of the on-site hotel. Which must tell the new champion something about the doors which are now set to open for him. Already, his charming, smiling disposition, allied to undoubted golfing skills, have won him many Irish friends.

An opening round of 68 gave him the lead by one stroke from Clarke and he remained very much in touch when a second round of 71 left him a stroke behind joint leaders Langer and Jose Rivero at the halfway stage. But the crucial surge came on Saturday when a third round of 67 swept him back to the top of the leaderboard on 206 - three strokes clear of the field.

By that stage, American Craig Hainline was his closest challenger on 209. Then came Rivero, Clarke and Langer, tied third on 213. Gronberg's dominance had been greatly facilitated by a closing eagle three, the product of a drive, five wood and 30-foot putt.

Through all of this his greatest asset, by his own estimation, was an ability to shut out the myriad dangers that lie in wait on a windswept course with major water hazards. "The only one I was conscious of was the river on the eighth," he admitted.

With that level of confidence, he was going to be difficult to catch. As it happened, Hainline went backwards with an outward 40 that included a double-bogey at the ninth. Clarke also lost ground with an outward 38 and Rivero failed to make any headway on 36 for the front nine.

For his part, Gronberg had the perfect start of a birdie four at the first where he pitched to four feet. Five holes later he felt he had done enough. The source of this conviction was a birdie at the treacherous, 446-yard sixth where he found the fairway with a solid drive, hit a five-iron onto the right half of the green and then sank a 45-foot putt for a birdie.

From then on he had only to avoid a major disaster. This he did successfully, smiling all the while. And he positively beamed at the long 13th where, after driving into the semi-rough on the right, he powered a five-iron of 209 yards over the trees and onto the green, 10 feet from the pin. The putt went down for an eagle three in what he later described as "a great moment."

"Mathias Gronberg is playing in a different tournament," said Miguel-Angel Jimenez. With a closing 69, the Spaniard made significant progress, as did Argentina's Angel Cabrera (67), while the overnight contenders generally faltered.

In fact from the top six players after 54 holes, Gronberg and Welshman Phillip Price were the only ones to break par yesterday. And for Price, who finished in a share of second place, the reward was a cheque for £108,562.

"Fantastic," he enthused. "That's the best cheque of my career." As it happened, it was more than double the previous best which he received for a share of second place when this tournament was staged at East Sussex in 1993. And he earned it with a birdie, birdie finish to a round of 71.

Clarke offered no excuses for a round of 73 that contained a reasonable return of 29 putts. But it was clear that his concentration had been affected by what was a highly emotional weekend in his native Tyrone. "I didn't produce my best, but Mathias was playing so well that I was always looking at second place," he said.

Three-under-par overnight, Clarke had actually dropped back to level par and apparently out of the serious money through bogeys at the second, seventh and 11th. But he finished strongly. An eight-iron approach was followed by a 25-foot putt for a birdie on the 16th and he then holed a 12-footer at the next.

Down the last, however, he drove into sand and his wedge recovery left him with a sandwedge of 120 yards to the flag which was in its classic Sunday position, 18 yards from the front and six yards in from the menacing lake. As he struck the approach, he turned his head away in disgust: the ball came up 30 feet short of the target and he took two putts from there for a closing par.

With Jimenez and Price sharing second place, there was no winner of the "other tournament." Meanwhile, the Swede was so bemused by his only mastery that he suggested "I might have played a different golf course."

In effect Gronberg was right, given the manner in which he successfully avoided the strategic scheming with mounding, sand and water, of the Arnold Palmer design team.

In our coverage from The K Club last Thursday morning, we reported that on recent playing visits to Waterville and Ballybunion, Tiger Woods and Mark O'Meara were each paid $150,000. Given they were guests of Dermot Desmond and J P McManus, the inference was that the Irish financiers had made these payments.

Dermot Desmond made it clear yesterday that this is not so. "J P and I know the two players as fellow members of the Isleworth Club," he said. "They were in Ireland on a social and private visit which was cleary understood by the people in Waterville and Ballybunion. There was no question of any financial transaction."