Larrazabal led the French Open for since the opening day

Spanish rookie Pablo Larrazabal won his first PGA European Tour title as he clinched a shock victory at the French Open in Paris.

The 25-year-old qualifier closed with a final round of 67 to finish 15-under.

Larrazabal sank seven birdies on his way to victory and will now compete in his first major - the Open at Royal Birkdale next month.

Scotland's Colin Montgomerie finished four strokes further back in second, with Denmark's Soren Hansen third.

"I don't know how it feels - it's fantastic," he said. "I really played great golf and my putter was great all week.

"It was for me a six-day tournament, it all started for me in Chantilly two weeks ago.

"I played great golf. Today and yesterday was probably the best golf of my life. Now I know I can play like those guys - Montgomerie and Westwood."

Starting three strokes ahead of the rest of the field, Larrazabal extended his lead to five with three birdies in the first five holes.

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But the Spaniard held his nerve to sink birdies on the challenging 15th and 18th holes at Le Golf National and putted for par at the final two holes to win the �527,800 winners' cheque.

"That's a big step in the right direction [for him]," said Montgomerie.

"Forgive me for not knowing the winner's name, but he has a great future ahead of him, the kid.

"Good luck to him. The flags were no gimmees on the last four and he played them in two under. It's difficult to win out here and he has done it very well."