Former Tour player wins European Tour event - 08/03/2007

ROSS Fisher has won his first ever European Tour event just over two years after competing on the PGA EuroPro Tour.

Fisher, 26, only turned professional in 2005 but has just recorded the biggest victory of his career by finishing first in the KLM Dutch Open at the Kennemer Golf and Country Club.

His triumph saw him collect €266,660 (£181,449), which has catapulted him into the top 40 on the European Tour Order of Merit and also earnt him a European Tour exemption until the end of 2009.

After becoming a professional in 2005, Fisher (pictured above) took his first step to the top of golf by playing on the EuroPro Tour.

It was an impressive start as his quality instantly showed as he finished in tied fourth at the opening event of the campaign at Wensum Valley, Norfolk.

He then made the cut at the Players Club, Bristol before his growing reputation saw him offered places in European and Challenge tour events.

From then on it was a meteoric rise as he performed well enough on the Challenge Tour to qualify for a 2005 European Tour card, where he has played ever since.

This latest good performance is the eighth top ten finish of his European Tour career and his third of this season.

It is also another indication of the vital role the PGA EuroPro Tour, the leading developmental tour in Europe, is playing in nurturing the future stars of world golf.

Earlier this month, Graeme Storm, who played on the tour in 2003, was ahead at the end of the first day's play in one of the four majors, the US PGA Championships, while two current tour members - Kevin Harper and Justin Kehoe - qualified to play in the 2007 Open.

Date posted: August 28, 2007.