MATTHEW Evans has claimed his first ever PGA EuroPro Tour victory after edging out Martin Sell in a dramatic play-off.

Evans, 23, triumphed in the second play-off hole at the Players Club in Bristol after the two players, the only two to have broken par, both finished on one-under.

“This is only my second year as a professional but it’s the highlight of my career so far,” said Evans, who is a member of the Rotherham Golf Club.

“It has given me bags and bags of confidence after the way I’ve played and I now just have to keep progressing.

“My game in the last six months has felt good but I just holed a few putts when it mattered.

“The weather has been unbelievable in the last three days and the wind has been so strong.

“It has been mentally more difficult than physically as if you took a bogey or a bad score then you could’ve let it get to you but you just had to stay positive.

“To finish in the top five of the Order of Merit and get on to the Challenge Tour is the main target and this could be a great stepping stone towards that.”

The event, which was in association with World Snooker, saw tough conditions on each day with the action being delayed for nearly an hour and a half on Thursday.

Order of Merit leader Daniel Gaunt has continued his march towards the Challenge Tour by coming tied third, along with Welshman Kyron Sullivan.

Three players – Lloyd Saltman (Aegon), Mark Ramsdale (Formby Golf Club) and Ryan Thomas (Aberdare) – finished in tied fifth four shots off of the lead.

Craig Lee was second in the Order of Merit before this event and it looked like he would not make the cut after being seven-over after two days play.

But he eventually scraped into the last day and came up with his best round of the tournament, two-over, to end inside the top 30.

James Heath shared the lead at the end of the opening day by going round three under but any hopes of him winning the tournament ended on Thursday with a shocking round of 81, 11-over.

But he performed better on Friday as his score of four-over left him on 12-over for the competition and in tied 40th position.

To see the full results, please go to www.europrotour.com and click on ‘Score Updates’ on the right-hand side

DAY TWO REPORT
ORDER of Merit leader Daniel Gaunt is on course to extend his lead at the top of the PGA EuroPro Tour money list.

Australian Gaunt has won more than £20,000 from the season so far and is well placed to earn more money from the latest event.

The competition is being staged at The Players Club in Bristol and in association with World Snooker and Gaunt goes into the final day inside the top ten, while his nearest rivals have not performed well.

Gaunt shot par on Wednesday and followed that with a round of one-over in tricky conditions, which caused a delay of an hour and 20 minutes and saw a number of players struggle.

Stuart Archibald and Robert Steele, sixth and seventh respectively in the money list, have failed to make the cut, while Ian Keenan, Craig Lee and James Hepworth are a long way down the leaderboard while veteran Gary Wolstenholme is not competing in Bristol.

Paul Reed (Bristol and Clifton GC) is in contention for the win after he made the cut for the first time in three events and he currently lies inside the top five.

Low scores were at a premium with Paul Coburn (Sandy Lodge) being one of only a handful of players to have broken par on Thursday.

James Heath began the day with a share of the lead but he quickly fell down the leaderboard after a horror start to his second round.

Double bogeys on the first and third left him well off the pace but his mood got worse on the fourth when he took seven shots on the par-three hole.

A birdie on the fifth was then followed by another double bogey – this time at the sixth – and that saw Heath plummet down the pack.

Scotsman Lloyd Saltman (Aegon) has finished in the top 20 in two recent Challenge Tour events and is still involved in Bristol.

At one stage he was second on Wednesday but three bogeys today – at the third, 13th and 14th – left him on four-over overall but he still comfortably made the cut.

The top 50 players and ties will advance to play in a final round on Friday where the winner will claim the £10,000 winner’s prize.

Sandeep Grewal scored 69 yesterday but his 79 today ended his hopes, while Zack Saltman (Aegon) and 2007 Order of Merit Champion Graeme Clark (Doncaster GC) were also out of the competition.

DAY ONE REPORT
JAMES HEATH and Matthew Evans are the early leaders on the opening day of the latest PGA EuroPro Tour competition – staged at The Players Club in Bristol.

The tournament, in association with World Snooker, is the eighth of the PGA EuroPro Tour season and concludes on Friday with £10,000 going to the winner.

Heath and Evans were the early clubhouse leaders as the pair both went round in a three-under-par 67.

Heath has already enjoyed success at The Players Club this year as his victory there in April in the first stage of qualifying helped get him his PGA EuroPro Tour card.

After making the cut at the last four events, Heath is well-placed to improve on his best finish of the campaign – tied ninth at Bovey Castle last month.

Four birdies on the front nine gave Evans (Rotherham GC) a fine start, although he bogeyed the 15th in his quest for his first top 15 finish of the year.

Ian Keenan and Dale Marmion are among the players who are struggling and need to perform well on Thursday if they are to make the cut.

Keenan (Royal Liverpool) is currently in fourth position in the Order of Merit but might not win any money from this event after bogeys at the seventh, 13th, 14th and 18th left him on four-over.

Marmion (Eaton GC), who finished tied second in the opening tournament of the season at Wensum Valley in Norfolk, is also on four-over and well down the field.

Stuart McCance (The London Club) and Myles Pearson are both in line to make the cut for only the second time this season.

The pair claimed a Wednesday score of two-under and it was an eventful day for Pearson as he claimed four bogeys but also six birdies.

Competition was fierce as 165 players began the first round in a high-quality field that included a number of players who had European Tour experience.

Craig Lee finished tied 26th last week at the Barclays Scottish Open in Loch Lomond on the European Tour.

However, he did not perform as well in Bristol as he made five bogeys in the opening nine holes he played.

Graeme Clark, the 2007 Order of Merit Champion, also made a poor start after beginning from hole ten as four bogeys in the front nine was followed by a triple bogey seven at the par-four first.

Lloyd Saltman has had two top 20 finishes on the Challenge Tour in the last month and successive birdies at the 13th and 14th brought him in contention here.

Matchroom Sport will edit the highlights from this event into a two-hour programme and this will be screened on Sky Sports 3 on Wednesday, July 28.

To find out the full latest scores please go to the official website www.europrotour.com and click on ‘Score Updates’ on the right-hand side.

Date posted: July 14, 2010

Click here to return to the Matchroom Sport home page