Daniel Brooks claims maiden EuroPro Tour victory - 17/06/2006

Daniel Brooks cruised to a two stroke victory in the Sureshot GPS International Open at Bovey Castle to claim his first win on the PGA EuroPro Tour.

The 22 year-old held a four shot lead overnight at ten under par and remained ten under through 15 holes, before consecutive bogies at 16 and 17 meant he finished on eight under (202) for the tournament. None of the chasing pack were able to put him under any real pressure on the final day, with Nicky Harris (Whitefield GC) sneaking second spot by one stroke at six under (204).

"I'm over the moon with the win," said Brooks, who is in second place on the Order of Merit after four events. "I know it is early in the summer but it's always important to be in that top five so hopefully I can kick on from here."

Brooks was joint leader at seven under after the opening round of 63 and pulled away from the field with a second round 67 - eleven birdies in the first two rounds the key to his triumph.

"I played very well in those two rounds," said Brooks, whose first bogey of the tournament didn't come until the 16th hole of his second round. "I hit lots of fairways and holed plenty of putts; I didn't really hit a bad shot in three days to be honest."

We've already seen on the Tour this year that a four shot lead going into the final round is no guarantee of victory, but Brooks maintained a level head and had no special plans to stay on course for the win. "I just told myself to have a steady day with no mishaps and keep the ball in play," he said of his final round preparations. "When you have that buffer you just need to keep some of it for the latter stages of the round and I had just that."

Runner-up Harris began the day on five under and remained there until the last where he picked up his third birdie of the day to move to six under.

Four under was the round of the day, and it was good enough to earn Llewellyn Matthews (Southerndown GC) a share of third place with Jamie Elson (Forum Financial Associates) with both players picking up crucial birdies on the last to finish at five under (205).

The final holes were key in sorting the standings, with Paul Dwyer's birdie-birdie finish giving him a share of fifth place at four under (206) with Neil Walker (Special Steel Group) and Matthew Evans (Rotherham) - the latter carding a two-over 72 after teeing off in second spot.

Steve Surry (Cumberwell Park) remains top of the Order of Merit after a 71 saw him finish with three other players at three under (207). For the full results from Bovey Castle, visit www.europrotour.com and click on the Score Updates link on the homepage.

The fifth event on the PGA EuroPro Tour takes place at Stoke by Nayland from June 30.

Date Posted: 17/06/09, 6pm