Mikko Ilonen
STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Mikko Ilonen has won the Nordea Masters by three shots to end a six-year trophy drought.
The 33-year-old Finn shot a 69 on Sunday to win with an overall 21-under total on the Bro Hof Slott course.
It is Ilonen's first European Tour victory since he won the same event in 2007.
"It's pretty special and to bounce back this soon after a couple of seconds this year is really good," Ilonen said. "Obviously, I've been waiting for this moment for a few weeks now. People have been expecting me to win but most of all I've been expecting myself to win, so to pull it off here after those second place results is very satisfying.
"It's been a long time since I last won but I haven't forgotten how it felt. In life there are ups and downs and I've found a better balance now. Life is good, my family is good and golf is alright, so I can't complain."
Sweden's Jonas Blixt (68) was second at 18 under. Italy's Matteo Manassero (70) led after the first two rounds but faded over the weekend to eventually share fourth place at 16 under with Denmark's Thomas Bjorn (67), Sweden's Rikard Karlberg (68) and Sweden's Alexander Noren (72).
Ilonen, who had contested 126 events on tour since winning the event in 2007, shot a 63 on Friday to equal the course record before moving two strokes clear of his rivals following a 65 in the third round.
The former British Amateur champion commenced the final round with back-to-back birdies from his second hole. He made a bogey in between birdies at Nos. 11 and 13 before finishing with five pars.
The Finn earned 250,000 euros to move to fifth on the European Tour Race to Dubai.
Ross Fisher shot a 64 to finish eighth on 15 under. The Englishman will now fly to the United States to play in the Fedex St. Jude Classic at Memphis, Tennessee.
"I'm very pleased as I played really, really good and it wasn't a bad 64 considering I didn't have my first birdie until the sixth hole," Fisher said. "So it's nice to finish off positively and a round like this has been coming for a while. And all I needed to do is get the flat stick working, which is what happened.
"I've got Memphis next week and I've never played there before, so all bodes well after finishing strongly here in Sweden."