Paul Broadhurst claims two-shot win on Senior Open debut

Paul Broadhurst produced a flawless final round at Carnoustie as he celebrated his Senior Open Championship debut with a two-shot victory.

Broadhurst took advantage of a faltering performance down the stretch from overnight leader Miguel Angel Jimenez and closed with a composed four-under 68 for a winning score of 11 under.

The 50-year-old becomes the first player to win on his Senior Open debut since Fred Couples in 2012, and he dropped only one shot over his last 46 holes in a remarkable recovery from his disappointing opening 75 on Thursday.

Scott McCarron looked set to post the early clubhouse target at 11 under when he rolled in his fifth birdie putt of the round at the 12th, but the American bogeyed the 16th and 18th for the second day running and had to be content with a 69 and outright second place, while Swede Magnus P Atlevi also dropped two shots over the last three holes and closed on eight under.

Jimenez had started the day with a healthy four-shot advantage over Broadhurst, and the pair traded birdies at the long sixth before the tournament turned on its head around the turn.

The charismatic Spaniard bogeyed the ninth and then got into severe trouble at the 10th, running up a double-bogey six as Broadhurst birdied to join Jimenez on nine under par.

Jimenez bounced back with a birdie at the next, only to give the shot back at the short 13th as Broadhurst backed up an excellent tee shot with a perfect putt to claim the outright lead, but he was unable to match Jimenez's birdie at the long 14th.

However, Broadhurst edged ahead once again at the 15th when he holed from 12 feet for birdie, and the final pair parred 16 and 17 and both split the middle of the fairway at the 72nd hole.

Jimenez blocked his approach into the front right bunker and Broadhurst nearly did the same, his ball narrowly clearing the Barry Burn.

Jimenez thinned his escape attempt and was fortunate that his ball gripped a couple of feet before crossing the out-of-bounds fence.

Broadhurst held his nerve to splash out to eight feet, and Jimenez then over-hit his pitch and two-putted from 35 feet to card his second double-bogey six of the back nine and sign for a 75 - eight under for the week.

And Broadhurst completed victory in style as he rattled in the putt for par to earn his second win since joining the senior ranks last August, when he won on his first appearance at the Scottish Senior Open.

The first-prize cheque of over £213,000 also lift Broadhurst to the top of the European Senior Tour Order of Merit, ahead of Colin Montgomerie and Bernhard Langer.

Jimenez's poor finish saw him slip into a share of third with Atlevi, whose entertaining 67 featured nine birdies over 13 holes after he started with a bogey, while Brandt Jobe picked up five shots in eight holes around the turn and fired a best-of-the-day 66 to join fellow American Tom Byrum on seven under.