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Victory completes Bjorn comeback
 Bjorn equalled the European Tour's record best recovery to triumph. MAYNOOTH, Ireland -- Denmark's Thomas Bjorn birdied the last hole on Monday to win the weather-delayed Irish Open title in Co. Kildare. Bjorn equalled the European Tour's record best recovery when he came back from a first round 78 to close with a level-par 72 on the tournament's fifth day. Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke had looked favorite to win when he began the final session two strokes ahead of the field on the ninth. Clarke, though, bogeyed the hole and with two bogeys in the last three holes, including a three-putt at the 72nd, had to be satisfied with third place. Bjorn finished on five-under-par 283, a stroke better than Britain's Paul Casey with Clarke a further shot adrift. The Dane's ninth European Tour title came after a battle of attrition with the weather, high winds on the opening day and torrential rain on Sunday extending the tournament's life. Bjorn's victory represented a remarkable comeback. On Friday morning, the 35-year-old Dane finished off his disrupted first round with a triple-bogey eight for a six-over-par 78. After a quick turnaround, though, he then equalled the course record 66 later in the day and put himself into contention, only three strokes off the halfway lead. A 67 on Saturday gave him a share the lead and his grandstand finish equalled a tour record set by George Burns, also in Ireland, who won the 1975 Kerrygold International Classic at Waterville, also after beginning with a 78. Illness and injuryBjorn's win comes after a year of illness and injury and may also help erase the memory of his last bid for a title in Ireland when he took an 11 at the penultimate hole in the European Open at the K Club, host for September's Ryder Cup. Bjorn said: "After the first round (here), I didn't think much was going my way again. In the end, it was last man standing." Casey, looking to put right his collapse the previous week when he let the British Masters title slip through his grasp in the final round, could have forced a playoff. But while Bjorn chipped and putted from six feet for his birdie, the Englishman three-putted from the front fringe, leaving his first putt from 80ft, 12ft short. Clarke's chance went with a three-putt on the last, too, after an unsettling start to his 10 remaining holes. When he returned to his ball in the rough on the ninth he reported to a referee that his lie had been improved by grass being flattened down. He was told to play the ball as it lay but, feeling he was gaining an unfair advantage if he went for the green from his improved lie, chipped sideways from the rough, as he would have had to do, he felt, with his original lie, and took bogey. Bjorn paid tribute to his friend, whose wife is battling cancer: "Darren's as good a sportsman as they come and what he did on the ninth shows his character," the Dane said. "There's no person in the world I'd like to see win more than Darren." New Zealander Michael Campbell said he was "well on track" for the defense of his U.S. Open title next month after finishing off with a 73 to end six strokes behind Bjorn. 
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