IRISH WOMEN'S OPEN:ANYONE WHO took the time or trouble to traipse along to the AIB Irish Women's Open at Portmarnock Links yesterday was rewarded. Not only did the sun appear, along with a breeze sufficiently strong to make players use creative shot-making in negotiating the links, but the class act of the tournament, Suzann Pettersen, duly obliged by taking the title with a display of supreme confidence that only hinted at greater things ahead.

In shooting a final-round 67 for 205, 11 under par, Pettersen finished with five strokes to spare over Marianne Skarpnord, who closed with a 70, with New Zealander Lynn Brooky two shots further back alone in third place.

It was Pettersen's second successful raid on the Ladies European Tour this season, as the 27-year-old Norwegian had captured the Swiss Open in May.

This was all about Pettersen. She is the world's number-three-ranked player behind Lorena Ochoa and Annika Sorenstam. Somehow, though, you would think it is only a matter of time before the ice-cool Scandinavian is at the peak. Is it her aim to be world number one?

"Of course . . . whatever time it will take, that's where I want to go and this is a step in the right direction," said Pettersen.

She started the day a stroke clear of Brooky, but that particular match-up had evaporated by the time the players walked off the fourth green. At that stage, Pettersen had started par-birdie-par-birdie to Brooky's par-bogey-par-bogey, and now the principal challenger to the new champion's supremacy came in the person of Skarpnord, a 22-year-old Norwegian compatriot who played quite beautifully to ensure Pettersen at least had to keep her mind on the task at hand.

In truth, there never seemed any likelihood Pettersen would allow the title slip from her grasp.

Over the three days, she covered the par fives in 11 under (made up of an eagle, nine birdies and two pars).

And yesterday she had only one bogey - at the 14th, which she attributed to a "little misjudgment on angles" - in a round that also featured six birdies, the last of them from 12 feet on the 18th as she closed out the title to appreciative applause from the large galleries gathered in the dunes.

"I wasn't going to let it go," remarked Pettersen, securing her second title in the space of six weeks.

She plans to take a week off at home before resuming tournament play at the Evian Masters in a fortnight, followed by the British Women's Open at Sunningdale.

"It's nice to test your game in a different way on a links course. As I say, you get into a bubble and see where it takes you . . . and today I just tried to get the job done and to get into double figures (under par)."

If proof were required about the burgeoning strength of the game in Norway, it came from Skarpnord, now in her fourth season as a professional but enjoying her best finish.

"One-two for Norway, that's never happened before," said Skarpnord. "I'm happy to finish so close to Suzann, she's such a great player. I never gave up, used my brain and I know now if I play well I can win."

Pettersen had noted that the "junior", as she called her, was challenging.

"I try not to look at the leaderboard. I couldn't but notice Marianne on the leaderboard.

"She is a fighter and I knew she wasn't going to give up, so I had to finish it off," said Pettersen.

Unfortunately for Skarpnord, her challenge fizzled out when she bogeyed the 17th and 18th holes, having negotiated the previous 16 holes in four under, including an eagle on the 12th to get within one stroke of Pettersen.

But this runner-up finish will give her plenty of confidence for the important weeks ahead.

Morgan Pressel will also leave with renewed confidence after finally getting the knack of playing links golf. Yesterday, the 20-year-old American fired a best-of-the-day 66 for 214, which propelled her to tied-seventh and featured a hat-trick of birdies from the fifth.

"On a course like this, it comes down to putting. The more putts you make, the better you play . . . I've learned a lot about my game, playing on a links course. Links golf is so different - there's a lot more luck involved in terms of if you bounce into a bunker or away from one."

Claire Coughlan-Ryan had the distinction of finishing as the leading Irish player, shooting a 74 for 222, which left her in tied-43rd.

The Cork woman played alongside Pressel - "A lovely girl, great to play with," she opined - and produced one of the shots of the day, holing out with her sand-wedge approach to the second for an eagle two. The difference between herself and Pressel?

"The only difference is she holed the putts when it mattered, and I didn't," said Coughlan-Ryan, who is without a card on tour this season and depends on sponsors' invitations.

Martina Gillen was next best of the Irish, finishing with a 74 for a total of 223.