Rowe Wins Towergate Insurance Championship - 11/07/2007

PHIL ROWE won his maiden PGA EuroPro Tour title with a two-shot victory in the Towergate Insurance Championship at Maylands.

Rowe failed to drop a single shot during the 54-hole tournament, and a final round 67 saw him take the win at -14, two shots clear of Matthew Richardson and Stuart Cage.

After opening with successive rounds of 66, Rowe shared the lead with Ben Welch going into the final day at -10.

Four birdies in the opening ten holes helped Welch to move clear at -13 at the top of the leaderboard - but an inspired back nine by Rowe piled on the pressure.

Welch dropped shots at 11, 14 and 15 only for his playing partner - who played each of the opening ten holes at level par - to fire in three birdies in four holes.

Former European Tour winner Stuart Cage put himself in contention by moving out to -13 during his final round, but a bogey at the last gave Rowe the edge.

The Trevose golfer's birdie at 17 put him two shots clear going onto the final tee, and a solid four at the last ensured that he finally took the title his talent has deserved.

"I'm really pleased," said Rowe, who was a member of the same Walker Cup team as Luke Donald and Paul Casey as an Amateur.

"My first two years have been a little bit slow, I've played decently but nothing special. In the last year I've really come along and been knocking on the door a lot.

"Hopefully this win is another step up now. My coach has told me to stay patient and it would be like stepping through the door.

"I kept telling myself that but on the last few holes it was tough - a different pressure to any other event I've been used to."

Rowe, who has had three other top-ten finishes in 2006, landed 14 birdies and an eagle over the three days at Maylands.

"I felt like I couldn't make a bogey," he admitted. "I had a lot of confidence in my chip and putts to get up and down.

"I was never going backwards, only going forwards and I had a few chances on the back nine in that final round which, luckily, I took.

"They don't always go in but I made a couple of good putts.

"I think Greg Norman went for hundreds of holes once without a bogey, but three rounds is quite good for me!"

Rowe's win moved him into fifth place on the PGA EuroPro Tour Order of Merit, with the top five after next week's tournament at Stonebridge earning an exemption to stage two of the European Tour Qualifying School.

"I'm going to play at Stonebridge and a couple more PGA EuroPro Tour events before I can play in two Challenge Tour tournaments in France," added Rowe.

"After that it's Qualifying School so hopefully I can make it through automatically, but at least I'm up there."

Cage, the 1997 Cannes Open winner representing Cookridge Hall GC in Leeds, is making his way back into the limelight after a number of years working for leading player agency ISM.

"It's ten years almost since I won anything and I gave up playing for a while, so I was just pleased to be mentally pretty good and play some really good golf," said Cage.

"That is the most important thing to me at the moment, whether I win or not. I'm trying to get back to playing some quality golf under a bit of pressure.

"I played nicely and got better as the week went on, which is nice. Lately I've struggled on the second day, but I got through the cut and pressed on in the final round."

Richardson joined Cage in sharing second place at -12 with his best round of the week on Friday, firing in seven birdies in a 66.

Welch finished the event three shots adrift of Rowe at -11 alongside Neil Walker, with Essex's Justin Broan and Roger Winchester a further stroke back.

Fore Court Discount's Mark Sheppard finished with two rounds of 67 to end on -9, with John Wells and Warren Wood on his tail at eight-under-par.

Northern Ireland's Damian Mooney dropped four shots in his final four holes and pade for a treble-bogey at the sixth with a third round of 73 to finish among five players at -7.

The Towergate Insurance Championship At Maylands - Final Result