First Pro Win For Harris - 17/05/2008

THERE WAS final day drama at The Bristol Golf Club as rookie pro Geoffrey Harris scooped his first senior win to take The Mortgage Group Classic on the 2004 PGA EuroPro Tour.

Harris's course record round of 63 (seven-under-par) was enough to leave him one stroke ahead of three other players - although were it not for a rule infringement he would have not picked up the £10,000 winner's cheque himself.

South African Michiel Bothma had ended his tournament with a total score of 197 (13-under-par), two shots ahead of Harris, but he was disqualified for failing to sign his scorecard.

And Reading-based Harris, who shot a clean round of seven birdies to finish on 199 (11-under-par), admitted the manner of his win had taken the gloss off slightly.

"This isn't the way I wanted to win to be honest, but having started the day in 21st position I'll certainly take it.

"I was really pleased with the way I put my round together and this win will help me finance my schedule for the rest of the year.

The second-placed trio all fired in excellent rounds to climb the leaderboard at the right time, with Lee Rhind (Uphall) also shooting a course record 63 after some excellent putting and James Godbold (Renotex) and David Ray (Glamorgan Telecom) firing 64s to card returns of 200 (10-under-par) exactly.

Overnight leader Chris Sands dropped back to level-fifth place with five other players after only managing a par round to end his tournament.

There was also a bonus for David Close, already a winner on the tour in 2004, as he became the first of a group of players to hit a 63 during the tournament and create the new course record.

Close's feat earned him a crate of Carlsberg Beer from sponsors Carlsberg for recording the lowest score of the week.

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