Lowry in dreamland after Vilamoura victory

Offaly’s Shane Lowry yesterday became only the second player to win on the European Tour as both an amateur and a professional.

The 25-year-old, who captured the Irish Open in an amazing Tour debut three years ago, lifted the Portugal Masters by a stroke in Vilamoura when England’s Ross Fisher three-putted the final hole.

Lowry joins Spaniard Pablo Martin, who won the 2007 Portuguese Open in his amateur days and then the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa two years later.