Portugal Masters: Tom Lewis holds his nerve to win second European Tour title

Final leaderboard

-22 Tom Lewis

-19 Lucas Herbert, Eddie Pepperell

-17 Marcus Kinhult, Lee Soo-min

Day four report

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 start as a professional, 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.

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 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 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 told Sky Sports. "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 team-mate Thorbjorn Olesen tied for 20th after a 67.

Day three report

Lucas Herbert carded an excellent round of 64 to open up a two-shot lead over England's Tom Lewis on day three of the Portugal Masters in Vilamoura.

Oliver Fisher had made history in round two as he carded the first ever 59 on the European Tour and an unlikely eagle on the par four last would have handed Lewis the second on another low-scoring day.

A closing par saw Lewis sign for a 61 and a 17 under par total behind Australian Herbert, who is playing off invites this season as he looks to earn his full playing privileges on tour.

Lewis won this event in just his third start as a professional in 2011 and recorded a victory on the second-tier Challenge Tour just two weeks ago, although he looked unlikely to contend this week after an opening 72.

The 27-year-old has birdied 18 of his 36 holes since, including 10 in round three, and he admitted the thought of another 59 had crept into his mind.

"It's something that I noticed with three holes to go," he said. "I wasn't that bothered at the end of the day. I'm pleased that I shot 10 under par and put myself in there tomorrow. I can only continue to make birdies and see what happens tomorrow."

Herbert made eight birdies and a single bogey to get to 19 under, with England's Eddie Pepperell and Swede Marcus Kinhult four shots off the lead.

Fisher was then in the group at 14 under after taking 10 more shots than his historic effort on Friday.

Day two report

England's Oliver Fisher carded the first 59 in European Tour history on day two of the Portugal Masters in Vilamoura.

Fisher fired an eagle and 10 birdies in a bogey-free round of 12 under par as the magical 60 barrier was finally broken after 46 years and almost 700,000 rounds.

There had previously been 19 rounds of 60 on the European Tour, with Darren Clarke the only man to do so twice and South Africa's Brandon Stone the most recent in July, when he achieved the feat in the final round of his Scottish Open win.

An opening 71 had left Fisher worrying about missing a third straight cut, but the 30-year-old from Essex birdied the first three holes, holed a bunker shot for an eagle on the fifth and also birdied the sixth and eighth to reach the turn in 28.

A hat-trick of birdies from the 10th meant the record was in Fisher's sights and after another gain on the 15th was followed by a crucial par save on the 16th, the former Walker Cup player birdied the 17th to leave himself needing a par on the last to make history.

And two years after carding a closing 64 in the same event to keep his European Tour card, Fisher narrowly missed a long birdie attempt before tapping in for par and being drenched in champagne by fellow Englishman Matt Wallace.

"It's a great feeling," Fisher said. "It feels great to make history here in Portugal. It's a great tournament and it's great for the European Tour and obviously myself to shoot 59.

"I was chuffed with the day. When I went out I was at level par and trying to make the cut, and then shooting that... it was just a great day all round.

"I missed a couple of chances on seven and nine, so I could have quite easily been out in nine under. I got on to a run around 10, 11, 12, so then I was thinking 59 was on the cards with 15 and 17 ahead of me.

"The big hole for me was 16. I hit a poor shot into the green and had a tough decision to make whether I chipped it or putted it. Went with the putter and left it a long way short and managed to hole a 20-footer for par.

"After that it was about hitting a couple of good drives on 17 and 18 which I did, and I just tried to enjoy it really. I said on the back of the 16th green it's not very often that we get a chance like this so just hit a couple of good drives and enjoy it.

"If it happens it happens, and if it doesn't it doesn't. It's quite easy when you're in that position to be quite tentative, but I got my driver going really well, which was really important.

"It's a very different feeling here in 2018 compared to what it was like back in 2016 I think. That was in the back of my mind. I got a great round going on that Sunday, and it was a matter of keeping things going on that day. I felt like I had done it before, so that was a good thing to look back on."

When play finished for the day, Fisher's historic score left him in a tie for the lead on 12 under par alongside Eddie Pepperell and Lucas Herbert, with Matt Wallace a shot behind.

Spain's Sergio Garcia bogeyed the last three holes to fall six shots off the pace, with fellow Ryder Cup player Thorbjorn Olesen another stroke back on five under.

Day one report

Sergio Garcia made seven birdies in an encouraging return to action at the Portugal Masters, where Lucas Herbert holds the lead at the end of day one.

Garcia would not typically have teed off in Vilamoura, where he is making his tournament debut, but agreed to add the event to his schedule after Thomas Bjorn handed him a Ryder Cup wild card pick.

The Spaniard is without a top-10 finish since June but had begun to show signs of life on the PGA Tour when last seen, and built on that here in an opening 66 in which he made just two mistakes.

That left him three off the lead, held by tournament invite Herbert, and two behind Matt Wallace - who some believe ought to have been selected by Bjorn at Garcia's expense.

Wallace certainly appeared keen to prove a point as, playing alongside Garcia for the first time in his career, the recent winner of the Made in Denmark shot a blemish-free 64 with the highlight an eagle at the 12th.

Eddie Pepperell and Shane Lowry sit alongside Wallace, the latter's round made all the more remarkable by the fact he bogeyed both par-fives on the back-nine before signing off with a final birdie at the 18th.

As for Pepperell, it is two years since he opened with a round of 64 here only to card a second-round 76 and miss the cut in what was then the final event of the European Tour's regular season, a performance which meant he lost his playing rights and had to return to Qualifying School.

Now on the fringes of the world's top 50, it would be a major surprise were anything like that to unfold in the second round after the Oxfordshire man made serene progress on a morning of low scoring under clear blue skies.

Conditions were more difficult in the afternoon, during which Danish pair Lucas Bjerregaard and Thorbjorn Olesen opened with rounds of 68 as did Nicolas Colsaerts, the Belgian's round coming to life with an albatross at the 12th.

Raphael Jacquelin moved into a big group on five-under with Garcia in what could be his final season on the European Tour as the Frenchman eyes retirement, while home hope Ricardo Gouveia made a positive start with a four-under 67.

A year ago, Gouveia became the first Portuguese player to secure a top-three finish in the event, one which helped him hold onto his playing rights, and he'll be looking for something similar from a lowly position on the Race To Dubai.

Garcia, meanwhile, felt he left shots on the course but was nevertheless happy with his performance, one which will certainly have pleased Bjorn.

"I would have loved it to be a little better," he said. "I played well, I didn't play extraordinarily. I still feel like I left easily three or four shots out there, a couple of easy birdie putts here and there. I think that it was nice to play at a good level after a little break and have a nice round.

"On this course, if you drive the ball well it's scoreable but if you don't then it's very tricky from the rough, so it was nice to do well here.

"I've had three or four week breaks before so more than anything it's nice to be out here and, like I said yesterday, get the competition juices going."

"Obviously I want to try to put together as many good rounds as possible but next week is different. The pressure is different, the atmosphere is different and I'm very excited for it."

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