Trish Johnson became the oldest winner on the Ladies European Tour at the weekend as she clinched the Ladies Scottish Open at Archerfield, at the age of 48.

Johnson went into the final round six shots in front, and held her nerve to claim the title, two strokes ahead of France’s Gwladys Nocera.

Meanwhile, the county crowd would have been disappointed to see North Berwick’s Catriona Matthew, the defending champion, finish down in 13th place, with Sally Watson as the top-placed Scot, tied for third. Johnson, from Bristol, carded a first round 66 to put herself in pole position, before a 70 on Saturday meant she went into the final round knowing what was required for victory, despite a one-over-par 73 in her final round.

Victory at Archerfield represented a real turnaround forJohnson, who was nearly forced to withdraw from the tournament earlier in the week with a back injury.

After her win, she thanked the Ladies European Tour osteopath and masseuse, Chris Wilkes and Amanda Bailey.

Local fans turned out in their thousands to see if Matthew could record another victory on home soil – she is a member at Archerfield – to add to her successes of 2011 and 2013, but she endured a tough weekend, with her five-over-par second round on Saturday all-but rulling her out of contention for the title.

Despite that, Matthew was able to recover to post a two-under-par final round, and finished as one of seven women who ended the tournament four-over-par.

The world number 20 will have to wait further still for her first win of 2014 as it was to be Johnson’s day.

Afterwards, Johnson said: “With a six-shot lead today, I think if I’d thrown that away in perfect conditions, well, it was a difficult one.” She also took part in a pro/am, partnering recently-retired football pundit Alan Hansen, and he too was full of praise for her performance.

He said: “She played so well for the three days and was just rock solid, putted great. It was never in doubt and watching her play was a delight.

“She’s been unlucky a couple of times but this was her tournament right from the word go.”