Thomas Björn was crowned King of the Mountains for the second time in three years after defeating Scotland’s Craig Lee in a play-off in the Omega European Masters in Switzerland.

The Dane holed a 12ft birdie putt on the first extra hole after Lee had earlier agonisingly lipped out with a birdie chance on the same hole in regulation play.

That miss meant they tied on 20 under par after Björn’s six under par 65 and Lee’s 67, with Björn sinking a superb putt in the play-off to claim his 14th European Tour title.

It was also his second success at Crans-sur-Sierre having won the title in 2011, when he carded a final round 62 to finish ahead of Martin Kaymer, a week after winning the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles.

This time, his success owe more to experience and patience than form, but that combination proved to be a sweet one for Björn, who now moves up to eighth in The Race to Dubai and back into the top 50 on the Official World Golf Ranking.

Left: Thomas Björn - Right: Stephen Urquhart & Thomas Björn

“I came into this not feeling particularly great about my golf,” he said. “I played pretty poorly over the last couple of weeks, but I’ve got a long standing love relationship with this course. I’ve finished runner up here twice and now won twice.

“It is a golf course that suits me. I came in and I knew the one good thing about my game was my wedge game and you need that this week. I just stuck to everything I had and I never really let myself down this week. I had that bit between my teeth that made me go that little bit extra.”

Björn described his performance across the week as ‘mature’ and it needed to be to hold off a determined challenge from Lee, who fired himself into a two shot overnight lead with a scintillating 61 on Saturday.

Lee opened with a birdie on the first, but had to wait 11 more holes for his next, during which time Björn hit the front after a superb front nine 31, that included four birdies in five holes.

He could only manage one by comparison on the back nine, on the 15th, while Lee managed to rediscover his touch on the greens with birdies on the 12th, 14th and 15th. But when he required just one more to capture his maiden European Tour title, his putt shaved the hole on the last, opening the door for Björn who duly took advantage in the play-off.

Frenchman Victor Dubuisson finished third on 19 under par after his second consecutive round of 66, with Spaniard Alejandro Cañizares fourth on 18 under par following a 67. Ryder Cup players Ross Fisher and Miguel Angel Jiménez, the 2010 champion, finished in a share of fifth position after rounds of 66 and 67 respectively.

Source: Omega