Michael Hoey wins Russian Open

Northern Ireland's Michael Hoey won the M2M Russian Open at the Tseleevo Golf & Polo Club near Moscow by four shots from Alexandre Kaleka of France and England's Matthew Nixon.

The Northern Irishman began the final round four strokes clear of the pack and maintained his advantage throughout the final day. In the end he finished with the same gap between himself and the field as he'd possessed when he had started. The victory was his fifth on the European Tour.

"It's pretty amazing to think that I have won five European Tour titles. It is a great feeling to win and every time you do it you just want more and more. Hopefully I can get at least another one before the end of the season," he said. "The putting was the key for me this week. I've been working hard on that recently."

The 34-year-old had been enduring a poor season until this event, his best finish on the European Tour being a tie for 25th in the Volvo Golf Champions. But with a front nine of two-under-par, he began the final nine holes five shots clear.

A dropped shot at the 12th gave a small hope to the chasing group - Alexandre Kaleka and JB Hansen were his nearest pursuers at that stage.

But Hoey, made certain when he birdied the 17th and both Kaleka and Hansen struggled on the final hole. The Frenchman dropped a shot and the Dane finished with a double bogey.

That left Hoey with a comfortable cushion coming down the last and he made certain of the win by carding a closing par four.

"I did feel the pressure a bit," he said. "But I got the job done in the end."

Kaleka finished tied for second with Matthew Nixon from England. Nixon played a solid back nine of 33 to climb out of the pack and claim a share of the runner's up spot.

M2M Russian Open Tseleevo Golf & Polo Club, Moscow Jul 25-28, purse €1,000,000 par 72

1   Michael Hoey (NIR)   70   67   65   70   272   €166,660 T2   Alexandre Kaleka (Fra)   70   67   71   68   276   €86,855 T2   Matthew Nixon (Eng)   69   70   68   69   276   €86,855 4   JB Hansen (Den)      72   70   67   68   277   €50,000 T5   Mark Foster (Eng)   69   69   72   68   278   €33,100 T5   Gregory Havret (Fra)   72   70   70   66   278   €33,100 T5   Liang Wen-Chong (Chn) 67   70   75   66   278   €33,100 T5   James Morrison (Eng)   68   71   70   69   278   €33,100 9   Simon Dyson (Eng)   67   74   71   68   280   €22,400 T10   Matthew Baldwin (Eng)   68   69   73   72   282   €18,533 T10   Mikko Korhonen (Fin)   69   70   70   73   282   €18,533 T10   Alexander Levy (Fra)   72   72   71   67   282   €18,533

Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage Where next? PGA Tour - Brandt Snedeker wins RBC Canadian Open