Golf – Singapore Open:England's Ian Poulter overcame a mid-round crisis to fire a one-over 72 and win the €3.5million Singapore Open by one shot today where Graeme McDowell had his chances but ultimately came up short.

After a six-week layoff Poulter claimed the wire-to-wire victory with a 10-under 274 aggregate to finish one shot ahead of China's Liang Wenchong (70) in second with Australian pair, Scott Hend (69) and Adam Scott (68) tied for third on eight-under.

"I was playing fairly solid but mishit some shots," said Poulter, who won for the first time on the European Tour since the 2006 Madrid Open.

"I made it a little bit interesting on a string of holes yesterday and coming out today I made some mistakes on the front nine and back nine to make it too close for comfort.

"To stand on the last knowing you have to make par for the victory, I was fairly happy."

McDowell gave a good account of himself by finishing the week tied fifth on seven-under but will rue his closing round of 74. The Portrush pro shot middle rounds of 65, 67 and was firmly in contention but was unable to build any momentum in the final round.

Peter Lawrie was next of the Irish on two-under after he too shot a closing 74, while Pádraig Harrington's 69 brought the three-times major winner back to level par for the tournament. Darren Clarke slipped further down the firle to six-over after a 75.

The co-sanctioned event was troubled by weather delays on the three previous days but Poulter returned to the course under blue skies today and battled through 30 holes before limping over the finishing line having let slip a five-shot halfway lead.

Returning to action after a six-week layoff, the 33-year-old twice looked poised to run away with the tournament before shocking spells in both of his last two rounds gave the rest of the field a chance to catch up.

Today, he started the day tied for the lead with 12 holes remaining in his third round and birdied his first hole back before surrendering back-to-back bogeys around the turn to slip back to seven-under for the tournament.

The flamboyant Englishman parred the 11th before his round finally kicked into gear and he recorded four birdies in six holes to move back to the top of the standings.

He had taken a one-stroke lead over McDowell into the final round as the pair were involved in a see-saw battle all afternoon.

Poulter stretched his lead over McDowell to three strokes by the time he reached the seventh, but there his game suddenly fell apart when his approach to the relatively easy par-five hit a tree.

He ended up taking a bogey six and was unable to drive the ball straight for the next five holes, racking up three more bogeys to slip one behind McDowell.

Poulter looked hot and bothered but a straight drive on the 13th was followed by a decent approach and he drained a long birdie putt just as McDowell was starting a run of three bogeys.

"It really pumped me up," added Poulter. "I was getting angry. I had played so well in spells around here this week but it was so annoying to let easy holes slips and all of a sudden lose the lead.

"I felt as if I had to do something and I did. Rolled a putt in from 30 feet and it kind of gave me a nice boost."

Back in front, Poulter regained his composure and played par golf all the way through to the finish to register his eighth European Tour victory.

Liang was solid if unspectacular and tied for the lead at one stage, but his challenge faltered with a bogey on the ninth and another dropped shot on 13.

"I tried my best but lady luck eluded me," said the Chinese number one. "I just couldn't find a birdie on the 18th hole after a poor third shot. There are no regrets, however, golf is like that."