Finch makes a splash with Irish Open victory

(CNN) -- Richard Finch claimed his second European Tour title on Sunday, winning the Irish Open by two shots despite a run-in with the water hazard at the final hole.

The English golfer was able to triumph despite closing with a bogey six on the par-five 18th, having fallen into the River Mague after losing his balance while playing his third shot from the rough at Adare Manor.

The 30-year-old had to dry himself off before three-putting to card a two-under-par 70, with his 10-under total of 278 leaving him two strokes clear of Chile's Felipe Aguilar.

"It was not a choice really," he told Britain's Press Association about his early bath. "It was a bit of an awkward stance, but I never gave falling in a thought. The momentum of the follow-through took me round and in."

Finch followed up his victory at the New Zealand Open in December, and has now climbed to fifth place on the Order of Merit after taking home the $645,000 first prize.

"I was a lot calmer than I was in New Zealand, and although my swing was not great, I felt a lot more on control," said Finch, ranked 218th in the world before the tournament.

He has now climbed to 10th in the European Ryder Cup standings.

"I'm not thinking about that," Finch told The Associated Press. "I haven't even played in a major yet and my goal this year was to try to qualify for one of those."

Aguilar, who won his maiden European Tour title at the Indonesian Open in February, did cut the gap to one stroke with a hat-trick of birdies from the 13th hole.

But his bid for victory was halted when he hit the water on the short 16th for a double-bogey five which let Finch go four shots clear, and he needed a birdie at the final hole to close with 70 and finish ahead of a group of four players on 281.

Dutchman Maarten Lafeber headed that group with a final-round 67, finishing level with home hope Gary Murphy (69), Sweden's Robert Karlsson (71) and England's Lee Westwood (72).

Murphy, without a victory in 200 career starts, was part of a six-way tie at one stage, but three-putted the eighth hole and bogeyed the 13th before producing a closing birdie.

Northern Ireland teenager Rory McIlroy claimed seventh place on 282, with the 19-year-old rookie finishing with a 70.

Bradley Dredge, who lost in a playoff last year and was one stroke ahead of the pack going into the final round, finished equal eighth with Spain's Alvaro Quiros Garcia (71).

The Welshman slumped to a disappointing 76, following an opening three-putt bogey with a double-bogey only two holes later.

Defending champion Padraig Harrington was joint 31st on one-over 289, carding six bogeys and a double in his 76.

Former Order of Merit winner Colin Montgomerie is still without a top-40 finish since January after he also shot a final-round 76 to be five over par.

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