Magical Martin makes his mark

Spain’s Pablo Martin produced a stunning performance today to become the first amateur ever to win on the European Tour – a total of 1,145 events.

The 20-year-old from Malaga, a former British boys champion and current college star in the United States, won the Portuguese Open at Oitavos by one shot from France’s Raphael Jacquelin.

Martin, two behind entering the final round of only his fifth European Tour event, fired a closing 68 to take the title – but not the £141,157 (€208,500) first prize - with a seven under par total of 277.

Jacquelin made things interesting by chipping in for birdie on the last, but Martin – who needed an invite to take part in the event – kept his nerve and made par on the same hole where Barry Lane ran up a quintuple bogey nine when leading two years ago.