Porteous seals first pro win

Amateur champion Garrick Porteous claimed a first professional win as he took the FSC Invitational title after a play-off in the HotelPlanner.com PGA EuroPro Tour event at The Astbury in Shropshire.

The 24-year-old carded a final-round 66 (-4) to finish ten-under, tied with South African Darryn Lloyd (68, 68, 64) and Yorkshireman James Maw (65, 66, 69) on the par-70 course.               

The play-off took place on The Astbury’s spectacular par-three 18^th and on the first play both Maw (Rockliffe Hall) and Porteous (ISM) made par, but Lloyd (Toft Hotel) found a greenside bunker and made bogey.  On the second play Maw too found the sand but played out to within feet of the pin.

However, Porteous was well-placed on the green and putted in one for birdie and the victory.

“It is great to get the first pro win in,” said Porteous, who wins £10,000 a brand new Motocaddy and a Shotsaver range finder. “I got off to a slow start as a pro, missing a few cuts, but coming here and winning feels great and builds up the confidence.

“It is always nice to win and I am happy. I will see what happens for the rest of the season, I think I might get some European Tour invites and also play a few more Europro events.

“I didn’t have too long to wait before the play off was good, and both times it was just a nine iron from the tee and I was able to hole the putt in the second play-off hole.”

Five golfers finished tied for fourth on nine-under, just one behind the trio who contended the play-off.

The final round was filmed for a two-hour highlights programme to be aired on Sky Sports HD on Tuesday, June 24 with repeats the following day. The HotelPlanner.com PGA EuroPro Tour continues next week with the HotelPlanner.com Championship at Cumberwell Park in Bradford-on-Avon.