Hillson crowned champion

Mark Hillson (Tandridge) sealed an impressive eight-under-par 65, to win The PGA in England (South) Assistants & Trainees Championship at the Drift.

Carding a total of twelve-under-par 134, Hillson’s performance earned him £888, while runner up Kieran Staunton (Woodcote Park) shot 65, 70 to take home £647. Michael Lowe (Leatherhead) shot 69, 67 to finish third with a total of ten-under-par 136.

Commenting on his new title Hillson said: “The morning round of four-under was solid, but I felt I’d left a few out there.

“My target was 12-under, based on coming second on 11-under last year, so in the afternoon I knew what I had to do. I got on a good run, kept in play with lots of three-irons off the tee to create plenty of birdie opportunities, and from eight feet in I was solid.”

Four strokes behind the morning leader Staunton, Hillson’s afternoon round got going at the second with a birdie but he gave it back at the next hole with a bogey. An eagle at the fifth kick-started the round again, and on the seventh he started a four hole birdie blitz that took him to six-under-par for his round, and ten-under for the championship with eight holes to play.

Dropping a shot at the 11^th, Hillson recovered with a terrific birdie at the 13^th and then made another at the 15^th to match Staunton who had already finished on eleven-under-par.

Pars at the 16^th and 17^th kept Hillson on track and left him one last opportunity at the par-five 18^th to claim victory. He placed his drive in the ideal spot with a three-iron off the tee, launched a three wood to within 40 yards of the flag, chipped up to three foot and made the birdie to win by one shot.

The Scotsman’s strategy didn’t change, as he explained: “I played the 18^th in the same way in the morning, and was confident that was the way to play it, especially with a good score going. My plan was to take advantage of the par fives and the shorter par fours, and I stuck to it.”

He continued: “This is my biggest win so far as a professional, and while I’m looking forward to the PGA Southern Professionals at King’s Hill next week, my main goal is the European Tour school’s first stage at Frilford Heath in a couple of weeks’ time.

There are various options for 2015 such as Europro, Challenge Tour and so on, but the Regional PGA Order of Merit events offer me great opportunities to compete at the highest level, so we’ll see what happens over the next couple of weeks.”