Todd Hamilton, better known in the golf clubs of Tokyo than he is across America or in Britain, became another amazing, unlikely winner of the Open title at Royal Troon yesterday.

The 38-year-old from Illinois, quoted at 250-1 at the start of the week, followed in the footsteps of Ben Curtis at Sandwich last year by beating world No 2 Ernie Els by one shot in a four-hole play-off after they had tied on the ten-under-par total of 274.

It might not quite be the shock of all shocks as Curtis was - he did win the Honda Classic in Florida in March after all - but it is still a remarkable story.

He is the sixth successive American winner of an Open on the Ayrshire course, but nobody could have predicted that he would be the one to emulate Arnold Palmer, Tom Weiskopf, Tom Watson, Mark Calcavecchia and Justin Leonard.

As failure followed failure at the US Tour qualifying school, Hamilton even thought about giving up the game, but he decided to go to the Far East to make a living, and what a great decision that now looks.

With 11 wins in Japan under his belt, he made it through the tour school at last at the eighth attempt last December and now, as well as being one of the oldest rookies on the circuit, he is a major champion.

''I've won tournaments around the world, but nothing on this level,'' he said.

''I'm so excited I probably won't sleep for two days. I truly had a blast - and I could play this course every day of my life.

''It really has not sunk in yet. But I am true believer that if you can win a junior event, a club championship or whatever you can focus on the positive and transfer it to your next event.''

Els, pipped by Phil Mickelson at the Masters in April, had his chances again and knew it.

''I didn't play a great play-off, but I had a great week and I think we have a great champion,'' he said.

''He kept his nerve and didn't make any big mistakes. I did make a big mistake (a double bogey at the tenth), but I didn't want to let this one go.

''To get into a play-off you have to take the positives, but obviously I'm disappointed.''

While Curtis won at his first attempt in the majors and was ranked 396th in the world at the time, Hamilton was playing just his eighth major and was ranked 56th.

And whereas Curtis had it handed to him by Thomas Bjorn's collapse, Hamilton did it the hard way - from the front.

When he holed a ten-foot birdie putt on the 16th green he was two clear of Phil Mickelson and three ahead of Els. But while most of the crowd thought it was probably over it was not.

Els, chasing his second Open crown in three years and his fourth major, followed him in from seven feet to join Mickelson on nine under.

Then he hit a superb iron into the 222-yard 17th and made a 12-footer. And when he fired his approach to ten feet at the last suddenly he was the favourite.

That was because Hamilton, his nerve suddenly betraying him, hit a poor iron off the tee into the right-hand rough and went from there across the fairway and up against the spectator barrier.

He was allowed a free drop away from that, but his pitch ran almost 18 feet past the flag.

When he missed it was Els who had the putt for the claret jug, but by his own standards it was a poor effort, going left.

So the pair of them, level after Els shot 68 to Hamilton's 69, went into extra holes - Els for the second time in three years.

At Muirfield he triumphed, but this time he paid the price for bogeying the short 17th. They had parred the first two extra holes, but the South African, chasing his fourth major win, went left, chipped to eight feet and missed it.

So, with the American one ahead with one to go, they were in exactly the position they had been after 71 holes, although on that occasion Els had not thrown his ball in disgust at his bag coming off the green.

Both chose irons off the last, but Els struck his much the crisper and Hamilton, taking a free drop off the spectator crossing, then came up short of the green.

Els hit his into an almost identical spot to the one from which he missed the putt to win, dead on line and roughly 12 feet short.

Hamilton used a fairway wood to chip and hit it inside three feet. Els had to think his birdie attempt was to stay alive this time.

Once again, though, he did not give it enough break and Hamilton stepped forward and made his for victory.

Mickelson, first and second in the first two majors of the season, was third - and never having recorded a top ten finish in the Open before, he had nothing to feel too dejected about.

He has a record this season to be proud of and it makes him the envy of many - Tiger Woods included.

Europe is still waiting for its first major winner since Paul Lawrie in 1999, but Lee Westwood made a last-day charge into fourth spot and after his nightmare slump to outside the game's top 250 that represented his best-ever finish to a major.

Even if Els won the play-off, however, he would not have been crowned world number one as well. That was because Woods was joint ninth and needed to be outside the top 17 for the South African to end his five-year reign.

As for Colin Montgomerie, his dream of winning on his home course was effectively ended by bogeys on the ninth and tenth and he fell away to 25th.

When he then double-bogeyed the 13th, three-putting from four feet, the 41-year-old was joint 16th and nine shots adrift. His chance had gone - but despite signing for a 76 Montgomerie will reflect fondly on most of his week after all he has been through of late.

And maybe he did enough over the opening three days to guarantee himself a Ryder Cup wild card if he cannot climb into an automatic spot in the month of qualifying that remains.

''I hope Bernhard Langer will think I can do a job for him. I think I can,'' said the Scot, Sam Torrance's rock in The Belfry win two years ago.

With Montgomerie out of it, the next of the chasing pack to have the spotlight turned on him was Woods.

Having climbed from 17th to seventh with his Saturday 68, the cheer when he holed a bunker shot at the 210-yard fifth was heard around the course.

He then birdied the long sixth as well, but he was hoping for more than an outward 34 - he was up to fifth, but had cut his deficit only by a stroke to three.

Woods could not afford many mistakes coming home, but they came. After his pushed drive on the 11th, the toughest hole on the course, narrowly avoided the gorse, he played a poor chip and missed his ten-foot par putt.

Then a horrid approach to the next brought another bogey and he was out of it.

So too was France's Thomas Levet while both Goosen and Berkshire's Barry Lane had slipped down the leaderboard before that