Ross Fisher produced one of the finest performances of his career to win the Volvo World Match Play Championship when he beat Anthony Kim, of the United States, 4 and 3 in the 36-hole final at the Finca Cortesin Golf Club yesterday.

Fisher, who the previous day had taken 39 holes to defeat Ángel Cabrera, the Masters champion, seized the lead with a birdie putt from about four feet at the first hole of the day, never trailed in the match and sealed victory over the American with a straightforward par at the 33rd hole.

He became the fourth Englishman to claim the trophy — following in the footsteps of Nick Faldo, Lee Westwood and Paul Casey — and won a handy €750,000 (about £675,000). As a result, he moved to No 4 in the standings for the Race to Dubai and will find himself in the world’s top 16 when the rankings are updated today.

Fisher, who led by a single hole after 18 holes, extended his lead to three by the 23rd and was able to keep his opponent at arm’s length with some excellent putting. “Finally the putter got a little hot,” he said. “In all, I think it was mental toughness that pulled me through.” What an intriguing contrast in personalities these two players cut. To American eyes, Fisher will come across as the stereotypical Englishman — quiet, polite, self-conscious and anything but flash. More Tim Henman, say, than Andy Murray.

OK, he may have a £150,000 Lamborghini on his driveway in Surrey, a reward to himself for winning the European Open in 2008, but while that is über flash in anybody else’s books, it would not be surprising if he chose something utterly sensible for his other car. A Volvo perhaps.

From a working-class family — his father is a heating engineer — Fisher, at 28, remains remarkably humble. He was awarded a scholarship as a junior to play and train at Wentworth and has rewarded the faith shown in him in spades. But while he will tell you that he believes he can win any tournament he enters, he will do so in an almost apologetic manner.

He may be just 5ft 10in to Fisher’s 6ft 3in, but it is Kim whose presence is more likely to fill any room he enters. To say he is confident would be to put it mildly. The son of Korean immigrants, who ventured to the States with little money in their pockets but with the dream of a better life, he is brash and full of swagger. And how the world of golf needs him.

Anyone who witnessed it could never forget his performance, on and off the course, at the Ryder Cup in Kentucky last year. Wearing a huge U-S-A belt buckle was just the half of it. A self-appointed cheerleader, he had a run-in with Ian Poulter, no shrinking violet himself, and destroyed Sergio García in the lead match in the singles. It was impressive and, for anyone of European persuasion, highly irritating.

It would be fair to say that having reached No 6 in the world 12 months ago, Kim has not trained on. But he was stung when Robert Allenby recently described him as golf’s “next John Daly” and when he hammered the Australian in the second semi-final here on Saturday, he did so in a cold, merciless fashion, interspersed with high-fives and fist pumps.

Kim arrived here as the eighthchoice American, seven others having turned down the chance to play. He was great value for money and a worthy finalist, a wonderful ballstriker with one of the game’s most pleasing swings.

Yesterday, however, he came up against a player who was not prepared to give an inch and was made to pay for missing at least two very short putts that would have got him back into the match at a point when Fisher was threatening to pull away.

If anything, Fisher’s personality reveals itself in his short game. Solid, dependable and powerful with his driver and long irons, he looks most fragile when it comes to the chipping and putting. If he had putted better, he could have won the US Open this year at Bethpage Black and he let slip a glorious opportunity at the Open at Turnberry, where he led after four holes of the final round before falling away.

But victories such as this will hold him in great stead. Eleven months from now he should be a member of Colin Montgomerie’s Europe Ryder Cup team and there is every chance that he and Kim will see a lot more of each other. That should be fun.

•A South Korean teenage amateur booked himself a place in the Masters by winning the inaugural Asian Amateur Championship in China yesterday. Han Chang Won, 17, also earned himself a ticket to the international final qualifying for the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews, after a convincing victory in Shenzhen. Leading by two shots overnight, the youngster crushed the competition with a final-round two-under-par 70 at Mission Hills Golf Club’s World Cup Course.