When Damien McGrane earned the right to play alongside Tiger Woods in the final two rounds of the Dubai Desert Classic this year, he was asked if it had been a lifetime ambition to measure his game against the world No 1. Indifferent to the hype surrounding Woods and a man of few words, the Irishman considered the question before effectively dismissing it. “I think everybody here would like to play with Tiger,” he said. “But my first ambition is to win a tournament on the European Tour."

At 37, McGrane finally got his breakthrough when he defied the elements yesterday to secure victory by an impressive nine shots in the Volvo China Open at the Beijing CBD International Golf Club.

In a constant downpour, McGrane led from start to finish over the final round, steadily widening the gap from three shots at the start of the day to double figures going to the last - a hole that he bogeyed - as his rivals struggled with the conditions. He had a round of 73, for a ten-under-par total of 278, with Simon Griffiths and Oliver Wilson, of England, and Michael Lorenzo-Vera, of France, sharing second place, on one under par.

“I’m overjoyed,” McGrane, who had only 96 putts in four rounds, said. “I have been thinking about winning one tournament for so long and this week everything went my way. I had good fortune, loved the course and the bad weather didn’t put me off my game.”

In becoming the seventh first-time winner on the European Tour this year, McGrane earned a first prize of €232,121 (about £183,743) and playing rights until the end of 2010.

- Lorena Ochoa, the world No 1, became the first player since Annika Sorenstam, of Sweden in 2001, to win four successive LPGA titles when she completed a three-shot victory at the Ginn Open in Orlando, Florida last night. Ochoa, from Mexico, returned a 69, three under par, for a total of 269, to finish clear of Tseng Ya Ni, a rookie from Taiwan, who closed with a 71.