It was tricky to judge what was wider. The 18th fairway of the Old Course or Thorbjorn Olesen’s grin after winning the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. It’s a good job the aforementioned landing area from the final tee, which also takes in the first, boasts a generous width of about 130 yards. Olesen used a hefty chunk of that expanse with a closing drive that was as far left as Jeremy Corbyn. “Luckily there’s a lot of room on that hole and I got away with it,” he said with smile after earning the third European Tour title of his career.

In the end, there was nothing to worry about. The 25-year-old Dane made his par on the last in a one-under 71 which gave him an 18-under aggregate of 270 and a two stroke victory over the American duo of Brooks Koepka and Chris Stroud. In this pendulous pursuit, where you’re only one good week away from turning an entire season around, Olesen’s fortunes, both professional and financially, improved dramatically. Heading into the lucrative Pro-Am affair, he was languishing down in 124th on the circuit's money list and facing a nail-nibbling fight to save his tour card. Those finger nails will get some respite now, though. A colossal cheque for £523,207 has propelled him into 25th spot on the Race to Dubai and he will now gain entry into the end of season cash grab that is the tour’s money-laden Final Series. Back in July, Olesen, whose campaign has been hindered by a series of niggling injuries, shot a 63 in the first round of the Scottish Open to set the early pace at Gullane only to follow it up with a crippling 77 which led to him missing the cut. “I was sharing a house that week with Thomas Bjorn and Soren Hansen and we were all a bit sad and just had a few drinks and talked some s***,” reflected Olesen of that night of drowning sorrows. Last night, he was raising a few glasses in triumph. “It was good to have Thomas there during the hard times,” added Olesen of his fellow Dane who knows all about the fickle nature of professional golf. “He’s been through a lot of ups and downs in his career. I’ve leaned on him a lot this year and he has been a great help to me. I was pretty emotional walking up the last hole here. It’s been a very tough year for me. As the season goes on, you start thinking about it (losing your card) and I knew I had to do something good in the last three events. It’s just nice to get it over a done with here.”

Olesen had led by three strokes heading into the final round but his journey to success was far from smooth. Despite a birdie on the first hole, the wheels began to shoogle with a double-bogey on the second and a bogey on the third as he slithered back into the pack.

Olesen, who won the Sicilian Open in 2012 and the Perth International last year, steadied himself again with a brace of birdies at the fourth and fifth and, after a stream of steady pars, he struck a decisive blow on the 15th. A raking birdie attempt from about 50 feet dropped into the hole and gave him a crucial two shot cushion that he would not surrender.

While Olesen was toasting the biggest win of his career, David Drysdale was savouring a job well done after the Scot more or less wrapped up his tour card with an excellent share of ninth place on a 14-under 274 after a closing 68. Just over a week ago, Drysdale was hobbling about on crutches and fearing that his season was over after tearing a calf muscle. He’s in fine fettle now, though. Having started the championship down in the perilous position of 121st on the money list, Drysdale’s hefty cheque for £61,215 has hoisted him up to 96th and well inside the card-retaining places. It’s now a case of onwards and upwards. “I’ll definitely play the next two weeks, at Woburn and in Portugal, and if I can keep playing like this then there’s no reason why I can’t give myself a chance of breaking into the top 75 and getting into the Turkish Open,” said Drysdale, who is setting his sights high and aiming to make a late push for the tour’s Final Series. “In the middle of last week I was seriously thinking that was me out for the rest of the year.”

Drysdale’s recovery has been pretty miraculous and there were little signs that his fellow Scot, Stephen Gallacher, is nursing his game back to health too. A share of 19th on a 12-under tally was his best finish on the tour since June. “We’ve not put four decent rounds together for a while,” said Gallacher, who was six-under through 12 holes yesterday and just two off the lead at one stage before a trio of bogeys halted his charge. “It’s still not 100 per cent but it’s getting there.”