Steven Brown claimed his first European Tour title in a dramatic one-shot victory at the Portugal Masters, which was held at the Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course in Vilamoura between October 24 and 27.
The Englishman entered the final regular event of the season at 150th on the ‘Race to Dubai Rankings’ and needed to put up a good performance to keep his playing privileges for next year.
He started the final day at Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course three shots off the lead after carding a season’s best 65 in round three and revealed he was feeling relaxed in what he called a “win or bust” scenario.
After turning in 33, a birdie on the 11th put him into a position where he would keep his card and an eagle on the next had him at 17 under.
He then showed nerves of steel to par his way home and finish a shot clear of South African duo Brandon Stone and Justin Walters.
“You just never know with this game,” he said after the tournament. “It’s crazy to think how well I’ve played the last month to how bad it was the first two thirds of the year. I never thought this was going to happen. I was just counting down ready for Tour School to get my game ready for that.
“The last few weeks I’ve had a calmness in my head. Even today, I liked the fact that I had to go for it and I wasn’t just trying to have a good result. That’s probably the difference,” he said.
Brown added: “I went to Turkey as first reserve last year and didn’t get to play so it’ll be nice to turn up and actually be in the field this year.”
Photo by: Getty Images
