Steven Brown claimed his first European Tour title with an incredible nerveless 66 under pressure from South Africans Brandon Stone and Justin Walters at the Portugal Masters.
The Englishman entered the final regular event of the season at 150th on the Race to Dubai Rankings Presented by Rolex and needed a good week just to keep his playing privileges for 2020.
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 the South African duo.
Walters finished second here in 2013 to keep hold of his card just weeks after the death of his mother and after sadly losing his father in the summer, he was runner up once again to keep his place on Tour as he moved up from 121st on the Race to Dubai Rankings Presented by Rolex.
Stone, who had his lead trimmed as struggled to pull away over the last eight holes of the event, had the chance to force a playoff but failed to birdie the last after a par at the previous hole left him chasing Brown.
Walters birdied six holes without mistake to join Stone at the top of the pile with four to play. Misfortune struck as he bogeyed two of the last four to drop out of contention.
The top 115 this week kept their cards and there was also joy for Jeunghun Wang and Jack Singh Brar who moved to the right side of the line, with Min Woo Lee, Niklas Lemke, Abraham Ancer and Lee Slattery dropping out.
