Donald bows to old man Funk

After tapping in for birdie he then parred the island green short 17th, a hole which saw an amazing 54 balls put in the lake in yesterday's third and fourth rounds - four of them by Bob Tway, who had a tournament record 12 when lying in 10th place.

Then, at the 447-yard last, with more water all the way down the lefthand side, Donald hit two glorious shots and was unlucky when the second of them, a four-iron that pitched four feet from the flag, ran just over the green.

He chose to putt it, but the 22-foot attempt ran narrowly past the edge of the cup to keep Sandy Lyle as the last European winner of the title in 1987.

"It's a tough enough hole without any wind. I don't know too many people who would have made birdie there today, but at least I gave myself a try," Donald said.

In the last 14 years Nick Faldo, Bernhard Langer [twice], Colin Montgomerie and Padraig Harrington [twice] have all finishedas runners-up, so Donald is at least in good company. Funk, who came from four behind to grab the £774,193 first prize with a 71 and nine under total, threeputted three times on the back nine.

"This is unbelievable," he said. "I didn't fathom this happening and I can't believe I won this thing. I'm overwhelmed."

Funk became the oldest Ryder Cup debutant last September, but although he will be eligible for the seniors circuit when the 2006 match is staged at the K Club near Dublin he wants to be there.

"If there's any way I can get on that Ryder Cup team I want to try to do a little better than we did last time," he said.