Golf:Three years on from winning the Irish Open as an amateur, Shane Lowry today claimed a brilliant one-shot victory over Ross Fisher to take the Portugal Masters in Vilamoura.

The 25-year-old Offaly golfer started and finished his final round with a bogey, but in between he carded six birdies and a stunning eagle at the par-four 11th when he holed his seven-iron approach shot, as he carded a 66 to finish on 14 under.

Fisher, who won the Irish Open the year after Lowry, was given an opportunity of forcing a play-off after Lowry bogeyed the last, but the English golfer three-putted the final green as he finished on 13 under after a final round of 70.

Lowry’s first win as a professional was cheered on by a large contingent of Irish supporters at the Irish-owned Oceanico course, and the winner’s cheque for €375,000 more than doubles Lowry’s earnings for the year to €728,000.

Lowry had been 65th in the Race to Dubai standings and outside the top 60 that earn an invite to the lucrative final event. His victory will lift him inside the top 30 and also earn him European Tour exemptions.

He becomes the second player to win on the European Tour as both an amateur and a professional, joining Spaniard Pablo Martin, who won the 2007 Portuguese Open in his amateur days and then the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa two years later.

“I cannot believe this,” he said after coming from four behind Bernd Wiesberger in the final round. “I can’t explain how I feel really. It’s a dream come true, I’m over the moon.

Two behind Lowry in third place was New Zealander Michael Campbell, his best finish for four years, and fourth was Austrian Bernd Wiesberger, who after leading by one overnight found water on the 11th and 17th.