HEREFORD'S David Park continued his solid start to the season with a share of 41st place and £8,000 prize money at the Wales Open at Celtic Manor.

He finished 15 shots adrift of winner Ian Poulter who declared himself firmly back among the firmament of young English stars after collecting the £250,000 first prize for his three-shot victory.

Poulter survived a late stumble for the second day in succession to card a final round 70 for an 18-under-par total of 270 at Celtic Manor.

Jonathan Lomas, Australian Jarrod Moseley and South African Darren Fichardt shared second place on 15 under, Moseley's bogey on the 18th costing him outright second and £55,000.

Poulter, battling a bout of tonsillitis all week, was never headed from the moment he equalled the course record with a 65 in the first round, a record subsequently beaten by Moseley's 63 on Saturday.

The winner's cheque lifted the 27-year-old from Milton Keynes from 135th on the Order of Merit to 14th, and maintains his record of winning a tournament every year since 2000, when he was also the tour's rookie of the year.

Guidance

It also confirmed he had made the right decision in seeking to change his swing under the guidance of coach David Leadbetter, and puts him firmly back among the group of bright English prospects alongside close friend Justin Rose, Paul Casey, Luke Donald and Nick Dougherty.

"I'm back," was Poulter's typically confident statement after ending a run of five missed cuts in six events in style. "When you go through a bad spell people tend to forget about you but if you stick in and work hard you should be back in no time.

"I am definitely moving in the right direction and it was definitely the right decision to change my swing. I had a few bad weeks and this just proves the work I have done is paying off."

Rose, who will defend the British Masters title he pipped Poulter to next week, was one of the first to congratulate the winner as he left the 18th green.

"I spoke to him all week and he was keeping an eye on me," said Poulter.

"He's doing a company day here today and it was really nice that he got here a few hours earlier than he needed to to watch the last few holes.

Superb

Poulter began the day two shots clear of Phillip Price and extended his cushion to three with a birdie on the second after a superb chip from just off the green.

Price hit back with birdies on the third and fifth to close the gap to one, but a bogey on the next gave Poulter breathing space again.

Price also bogeyed the eighth and was replaced as Poulter's main challenger by Moseley, who had picked up shots at the third, fifth and sixth to lie two shots back.

Moseley then briefly reduced his deficit to one with a birdie on the 11th, only for Poulter to go one better in the group behind with a 60ft eagle - the only one at the hole all week.

Poulter bogeyed the 15th after finding a greenside bunker and dropped another shot at the next after again going through the back of the green.

That cut his lead back to one, but when Moseley could only bogey the last after his second shot hit a tree Poulter's birdie was simply the icing on the cake.