England’s Tom Lewis is relishing a return to the spotlight after surviving a nerve-wracking finish to win his second European Tour title in the Portugal Masters on Sunday.
Seven years after winning the same event in just his third professional start, Lewis carded a final round of 66 in Vilamoura to finish 22 under par, three shots ahead of compatriot Eddie Pepperell and Australia’s Lucas Herbert.
Shane Lowry finished six shots off the winner after he finished off a good week with a round of 67 on Sunday, leaving him in sixth place overall and on 16 under par for the tournament.
Lowry made five birdies and dropped just a single shot in his final round - following on from efforts of64, 69 and 68.
Lewis began the day two shots behind Herbert, but birdied four of the first eight holes and recovered from a bogey on the 10th with further gains on the 11th and 13th to hold a one-shot lead over playing partner Herbert.
The 27-year-old looked set to lose that advantage after driving into the water on the 17th, but holed from 30 feet for an unlikely par and then saw Herbert’s tee shot on the 18th also find a watery grave.
“It’s amazing to be back here in Portugal, to play the way I played and to have the crowds we had. I feel great right now,” said Lewis, who held a share of the lead in the 2011 British Open after an opening 65, the lowest round by an amateur in championship history.
“It’s unbelievable, I’m so happy. It’s been a rough ride, but this week I played hard, I got off to a bad start and to finish the way I have has been brilliant.”
Tipped for stardom after his performance in the British Open, Lewis turned professional after helping Great Britain and Ireland win the 2011 Walker Cup, but struggled to build on his first victory in Portugal and had to regain his card via the qualifying school in 2016.
“I lost that fame as such, eyes looking at me and it was probably something I didn’t really want at the time,” Lewis added. “Now I want it more than ever so hopefully I can stay where I am and keep building.
“It means a lot to win this again. The next win was always going to mean more because of how much I worked for it and I’m just pleased to be here right now.
“Hopefully I can do better than I did last time and continue to do what I’ve been doing with the team that I’ve got, not ease off the gas and keep pushing forwards. That’s what I did this week after a few good weeks recently.”
Herbert’s double bogey on the 18th meant he had to settle for a closing 71 and a share of second place with Pepperell, who carded six birdies and two bogeys in his 67.
There was good news for European captain Thomas Bjorn ahead of the upcoming Ryder Cup, with wild card Sergio Garcia sharing seventh after a closing 65 and teammate Thorbjorn Olesen tied for 20th after a 67.
Final fourth round scores in the Portugal Masters (Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 71):
262 Tom Lewis 72 63 61 66
265 Lucas Herbert (Aus) 63 67 64 71, Eddie Pepperell 64 66 68 67
267 Marcus Kinhult (Swe) 68 65 65 69, Soomin Lee (Kor) 67 69 67 64
268 Shane Lowry 64 69 68 67
269 Ricardo Gouveia (Por) 67 66 70 66, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 66 70 68 65, Oliver Fisher 71 59 69 70, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 66 68 67 68, Kim Koivu (Fin) 66 68 68 67
270 Jason Scrivener (Aus) 66 67 68 69, Chris Wood 72 66 66 66, Mikko Korhonen (Fin) 66 69 64 71, Pep Angles (Spa) 70 65 65 70
271 Adrien Saddier (Fra) 66 66 69 70, Ashley Chesters 66 70 67 68, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 69 66 68 68, Bradley Dredge 67 72 65 67
272 Lucas Bjerregaard (Den) 68 68 67 69, Richard Bland 68 68 68 68, Andrew Sullivan 69 66 66 71, Haydn Porteous (Rsa) 68 69 67 68, Thorbjorn Olesen (Den) 68 69 68 67, George Coetzee (Rsa) 67 70 67 68, Scott Jamieson 70 69 67 66
273 Haotong Li (Chn) 65 67 68 73, Ryan Fox (Nzl) 70 68 64 71, Jordan Smith 68 67 67 71, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 67 69 67 70, Renato Paratore (Ita) 66 66 67 74, Matthias Schwab (Aut) 69 68 68 68, Jin-ho Choi (Kor) 70 69 70 64
274 Andrew Johnston 71 68 68 67, Robert Rock 69 70 68 67, Lasse Jensen (Den) 72 65 69 68, Julien Guerrier (Fra) 71 68 70 65, Jacques Kruyswijk (Rsa) 69 68 68 69, Gregory Havret (Fra) 70 64 71 69
275 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 69 66 70 70, Ross Fisher 68 69 70 68, Clement Sordet (Fra) 74 64 69 68, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 68 69 66 72
276 Matt Wallace 64 67 71 74, Matthieu Pavon (Fra) 68 70 67 71, Matthew Nixon 73 66 68 69, Sebastian Heisele (Ger) 68 69 72 67, Ashun Wu (Chn) 70 64 70 72, Jorge Campillo (Spa) 67 68 72 69, David Horsey 68 68 72 68, Danny Willett 69 69 67 71, Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 70 69 68 69, Phachara Khongwatmai (Tha) 68 70 69 69, Stephen Gallacher 68 67 70 71, Paul Dunne 68 68 71 69
277 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 70 68 70 69, Jason Norris (Aus) 67 70 72 68, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 67 70 72 68, Josh Geary (Nzl) 68 68 71 70
278 JC Ritchie (Rsa) 69 70 70 69, Matthew Baldwin 69 68 66 75, Sam Locke (a) 68 69 67 74
279 Tapio Pulkkanen (Fin) 69 69 72 69, Marc Warren 75 64 70 70, David Howell 66 71 71 71, David Lipsky (USA) 69 69 71 70, Gian-Marco Petrozzi (Ita) 66 70 71 72, Ross McGowan 70 67 70 72
280 Nino Bertasio (Ita) 67 72 71 70
281 Chris Hanson 67 72 71 71, Yusaku Miyazato (Jpn) 68 68 71 74,
Johan Edfors (Swe) 68 70 72 71
Cut to take place at end of Round 2 for scores of no more than 140
