Tom Lewis wins Portugal Masters

In only his third outing as a professional, England's Tom Lewis claimed a remarkable victory in the Portugal Masters over the Oceanico Victoria course in Vilamoura. The 20-year-old won by two from Rafael Cabrera-Bello of Spain.

Tom Lewis
Fergus Bisset
By
published

In only his third outing as a professional, England's Tom Lewis claimed a remarkable victory in the Portugal Masters over the Oceanico Victoria course in Vilamoura. The 20-year-old won by two from Rafael Cabrera-Bello of Spain.

Just a month after he was part of the victorious GB&I Walker Cup team at Royal Aberdeen, Lewis has now secured his playing rights for two years on the European Tour, will make an appearance at next month's WGC HSBC Champions and has leapt to third place on the Ryder Cup points table.

"I would not have expected this at all," he added. "I was really dreading going to the Qualifying School at the end of the year, but it looks like I've skipped that," he said. "I've not thought about the money - I was thinking about winning."

It's an incredible start to a career, particularly when you consider it took Tiger Woods five tournaments to secure his first pro title and Rory McIlroy needed 38 starts before he gained his maiden victory.

Lewis began the final day at Vilamoura four shots back from Cabrera-Bello of Spain. The youngster started strongly though with birdies at the 1st and 5th holes, then he really caught fire on the back nine.

He made five birdies in six holes from the 12th to take the tournament by the scruff of the neck. Cabrera-Bello ended as Lewis' closest challengers but he struggled to make an impact on Sunday. In fact, he did well to recover from a double bogey at the par-5 12th as he posted three straight birdies from the 15th. David Lynn and Gregory Havret surged up the final day leaderboard, both closing with 64s to end the week in a tie for third with George Coetzee, who also finished strongly with a 65, and Felipe Aguilar of Chile and Sweden's Christian Nilsson.

Portugal Masters Oceanico Victoria Golf Course, Vilamoura, Portugal Oct 13-16, purse €2,500,000, par 72

1   Tom Lewis (Eng)      70   64   68   65   267   €416,660 2   Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 69 65   64   71   269   €277,770 T3   Felipe Aguilar (Chi)   66   66   67   71   270   €110,000 T3   George Coetzee (RSA)   70   69   66   65   270   €110,000 T3   Gregory Havret (Fra)   66   69   71   64   270   €110,000 T3   David Lynn (Eng)      70   68   68   64   270   €110,000 T3   Christian Nilsson (Swe)   69   64   66   71   270   €110,000 T8   Thomas Bjorn (Den)   65   69   66   71   271   €56,167 T8   Jamie Donaldson (Wal)   69   68   67   67   271   €56,167 T8   Martin Kaymer (Ger)   67   68   70   66   271   €56,167

Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage only

Fergus Bisset
Fergus Bisset
Contributing Editor

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He has also worked with Golf Monthly to produce a podcast series. Called 18 Majors: The Golf History Show it offers new and in-depth perspectives on some of the most important moments in golf's long history. You can find all the details about it here.

He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly.

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?

Latest