Double celebration for Benson

Seve Benson celebrated his call-up to the England Elite Squad by winning the 36-hole Qatar Open Amateur Championship in Doha on the 5th and 6th January.

The Surrey 20 year-old carded a closing 74 for a one under par total of 143, one shot ahead of fellow Surrey golfer, Gary King, a member of the England under 18 squad, who closed with 73.

Benson led by one after an opening 69 and was five under par after 27 holes. But a few shots slipped away over the homeward nine including a bogey at the 15th where his approach struck a rake and rebounded into a bunker.

Apart from the trophy, Benson?s victory also earns him a place in the Qatar Masters on the European Tour over the same course later this month.

?It was a thrill to win again,? said Seve, ?although it is not like winning a 72-hole championship. But when you also gain an invite to a European Tour event it rates high on my list.?

It was Benson?s third significant overseas victory in little more than six months. He won the Russian Open Amateur in Moscow last June and won the team title with fellow elite squad member Ed Richardson at the Juan Carlos Tailhade Cup in Buenos Aires last month.

Benson also becomes the second English player to win the Qatar Amateur. Yorkshire?s Danny Denison, now a professional, won the title in 2005.