Colin Montgomerie’s 31st victory on the European Tour was about as exciting as it could possibly be and certainly more nerve-racking than a man who has just passed his 44th birthday would have wanted. At various times on the last day of an event that had been riven by bad weather, play at the K Club was interrupted by thunder, lightning and rain and Montgomerie had to endure several lengthy delays before he was finally acclaimed as the winner of the European Open – his first title since December 2005.

It would be overegging it to describe Montgomerie’s golf yesterday as being as good as it was in 1999 yet there is no denying that the Scot is playing better than he has for some time. Rhythm has always been the foundation of his swing and this quality was very evident on Friday when he went round the shortened Smurfit course in 64. The rhythm was there again yesterday when his 65 was good enough for him to shoulder his way ahead of the six men in front of him at the start of the final round and the six men who were alongside him, four strokes behind the leader.

There is nothing ordinary or mundane about Montgomerie and nothing was typical about the manner of this win, the 40th of his career as a professional and the first in this event. The climatic conditions were suitably theatrical for such an old trouper. He set a target of 11 under par and had to endure a wait of 80 minutes before his rivals could finish.

However it came, though, Montgomerie’s first tournament victory for 19 months was especially welcome as it helped to eradicate from his mind his woeful performance in last month’s US Open, a performance that he himself had described as “very, very poor, disappointingly poor”. It was a reminder that there remains life in his comfortably padded middle-aged frame.

Various of Montgomerie’s rivals had a chance to force a play-off, the most likely being Niclas Fasth, of Sweden, who has been having such an extraordinarily successful run since mid-May. Fasth’s attempt to win his second event in three weeks ended when he could not birdie any of his last three holes. His missed putt of seven feet on the 17th was perhaps the most cruel. Then, after another delay, he came to the 18th knowing that a birdie would draw him level. He failed and ended one stroke behind.

These days, Fasth hardly resembles the quiet Swede who did not have the confidence to look his questioners in the eye in 2001 and 2002. Now ranked No 22 in the world and fearing no one, he has developed a nervous habit of visibly tensing his shoulders as he talks to himself at moments of stress. Fasth has finished eighth, fourth, first and now second in events in the past six weeks. He has a fearful cold, a form of viral infection perhaps, and desperately needs a week’s rest before he competes in the Open at Carnoustie.

Montgomerie had two strokes of luck at the very end of his round. On the 17th, his ball rolled down the right-hand side of the green and was stopped from a watery grave only by a band of rough. Had the bank been more closely mown, the ball would have rolled down it.

On the 18th, shortened to a par three, there were ominous similarities with the 72nd hole of last year’s US Open at Winged Foot, where from the middle of the fairway, Montgomerie hit a limp seven-iron iron that faded from its target and cost him any chance of his first victory in a major championship.

This time it was a six-iron. The flight was similar, curving to the right and it was Montgomerie’s good fortune that his ball stopped within inches of rocks surrounding a pond. Montgomerie had his right foot on a rock when he played a deft pitch to five feet and then holed one of the most pressure-filled putts he has faced for some time. It gave him one more victory on the European Tour than Nick Faldo.

“This wasn’t important, this was very important,” Montgomerie said, with something approaching a broad smile of happiness. “After such a dry spell, you wonder if it is going to happen. It feels good. I must admit I was lucky over the last two holes.”