German cool triumphed over English aggression in a shoot-out once again yesterday as Bernhard Langer beat Warren Bennett in a sudden death play-off to take his third Dutch Open title and put one foot firmly in Europe's Ryder Cup camp.

Langer showed his clinical qualities to keep alongside his opponent throughout the day and then watched his playing partner in yesterday's final round, miss a four-foot putt that would have sent the duel beyond the first extra hole.

It provided Langer with his second win at the links course, Noordwijkes, his second via a play-off and a cheque for £182,913.

But more importantly for the man controversially left out of the Ryder Cup by Mark James in 1999, the 300,000 qualifying points he has reaped sends him into the ten automatic places for the match at The Belfry in just under nine weeks.

Langer has made no secret of the fact that he was under pressure to produce a high finish in this tournament, his final one before the USPGA on August 16, admitting that Sergio Garcia and Jesper Parnevik would probably be the men that win current captain Sam Torrance's two wildcard selections. He will now take a two-week break after playing four consecutive events, in the knowledge that he is up to seventh from 14th in the standings.

With the top 12 in the Ryder Cup race invited into the NEC Invitational in America a week after the final major of the year, an exclusive event where a minimum of 20,000 points can be picked up, Langer will now almost certainly be participating against the United States for a tenth time.

''It's great to be in the Ryder Cup at the moment and hopefully for good,'' said Langer, who played in the final pairing for the second time in seven days, following his round with Open winner David Duval last week.

''I got a phone call from Sam straight after I walked off the course, congratulating me on making the team and helping him out."

Overnight leader Bennett, of Kent, shaved the hole with his first putt in the play-off and left himself with the same distance he had dealt with a quarter-of-an-hour earlier to ensure the showdown.

But he somehow dribbled it around the lip, to settle for a runner-up's spot for the second time this season following his second place to Vijay Singh in the Singapore Masters.

Both had finished on 15 under par for the tournament, Langer carding a 66 and Bennett a 67, four shots clear of the field.

An amazing run for the resilient German closed the two-shot gap that had opened up between the pair with eight holes to play.

Both men notched eagles at the par-five, 502-yard 11th and turned the championship race into an exclusive tussle once Miguel Angel Jimenez's putting let him down with three consecutive birdie chances for the Spaniard to finish on 11 under.

Langer prevented a double bogey at the 14th with a brilliantly-judged long putt and continued his momentum with three consecutive birdies via some breathtaking play on the greens, the last from all of 30 feet.

Hartlepool's Graeme Storm - despite making the cut for the first time since the Benson and Hedges Open in May - had yet another disappointing couple of rounds, finishing 16 shots behind the pace.

Storm qualified for the latter stages after shooting fantastic early rounds of 71 and 68. But the Hartlepool pro, who has been suffering on the European Tour this year, finished off the tournament with disappointing rounds of 71 and 75 to finish someway down the leaderboard.

l Wearside's David Vest stunned a demoralised Brian Ross (Heworth) to snatch a sudden-death victory in the final of the Durham County Matchplay championship at Hartlepool.

Ross appeared to be coasting to a comfortable win, winning the first two holes and five of the first seven. He still led by two at the turn and increased his lead when his opponent conceded the tenth.

Vest reduced the deficit with a birdie two at the 12th but remained two down with just three to play. But Ross bogied the 16th and when his opponent birdied the par five 17th, the match was all square for the first time.

Vest nearly drove out of bounds at the last and when he found sand with his approach, Ross appeared to have the initiative. Vest however, salvaged a half and at the first extra hole, Ross paid the penalty for a wayward tee shot and eventually conceded the match. Both players had a convincing victories in the semi-final, Ross overcoming Andy Leighton and Vest knocking out last year's beaten finalist John Kennedy.

Results:

Semi-final: B Ross (Heworth) bt A Leighton (Darlington) 4 and 3; D Vest (Wearside) bt J Kennedy (Consett) 4 and 3. Final; Vest beat Ross at the first extra hole.