ENGLAND’S Matt Wallace held off a two-pronged assault on the final day to claim his first European Tour title with a wire-to-wire victory at the Open de Portugal.
Wallace held a five-shot lead at the halfway stage and was three ahead starting the final round, but saw his advantage reduced to a single shot, first by German Sebastian Heisele and then American Julian Suri.
However, the 27-year-old held his nerve to card four vital birdies in a closing 69, his third bogey-free round of the week at Morgado Golf Resort giving him a winning total of 21 under par.
Suri had piled on the pressure with nine birdies in his first 15 holes, but he then bogeyed the 17th and had to settle for a closing 65 and second place on 18 under. France’s Matthieu Pavon was two shots further back in third, wtih Heisele sharing fourth place with England’s Sam Walker on 15 under.
Wallace won six times on the Alps Tour last season – including five in a row – to secure a place on the Challenge Tour, but now has a full European Tour card after just his fourth event at this level.
“It’s the best feeling ever,” Wallace said after rounds of 63, 66, 73 and 69. “It’s always been a dream to win on the European Tour. The first two days were really easy, the third was the hardest day of my life and today was tough but it’s so satisfying and I’m really happy.
“A good friend of mine, Tom Lewis, won here in Portugal.
I spoke to him yesterday and he has great memories here and I’m going to as well.
“I didn’t see it coming, I never envisioned standing here. I just tried to go through my processes and work as hard as I could.”
David Drysdale was the highest finishing Scot on five under after a closing 72, followed by Paul Lawrie (74) and Grant Forrest (76) on three under.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here