Pablo Martin revealed he took a long time in accepting his caddie's advice at the final hole on his way to victory at Leopard Creek.
Spaniard wins out after accepting caddie's advice
Pablo Martin revealed he took a long time in accepting his caddie's advice at the final hole on his way to a memorable victory at the Alfred Dunhill Championship.
The Spaniard made history at Leopard Creek on Sunday as he became the first man to win on the European Tour as both an amateur and a professional.
Martin triumphed at the Portugal Open two years ago and quickly turned pro, but endured a difficult start to life in the paid ranks.
Indeed, 2009 began with seven consecutive missed cuts and that made it 20 out of 22 in a nightmare slump for the Malaga native.
But the 23-year-old battled on and, after picking up his first cheque in April, did just enough to retain his card last year after finishing 118th on the Race to Dubai money-list.
But he need no longer worry about retaining his card for the enxt couple of years at least after he held his nerve to close out victory over the weekend.
He went head-to-head with local favourite and three-time Alfred Dunhill champion Ernie Els on the final day and, having won that duel convincingly, also held off another South African Charl Schwartzel to emerge triumphant by one shot.
Although he led throughout the last 36 holes, it is never over at Leopard Creek until the treacherous 541-yard 18th is mastered.
In the groups just ahead of Martin there had been sevens from a number of players including Els - he took eight there two years ago when two in front - an eight from France's Michael Lorenzo-Vera and an incredible 11 from Welshman Sion Bebb, who as a result crashed from fifth to 17th alongside Els.
Martin, leading by two going down the last, hit an enormous drive down the last, leaving himself 175 yards over the water to the green.
The Spaniard admits he was ready to take on the shot, but eventually took on board the advice of his caddie.
"It was like a seven or six-iron to the centre of the green," he explained. "It wasn't a difficult shot, but my caddie kept saying 'No, no, no - lay up'.
"I told him I can bat it from here to where I must lay up, but he kept insisting I lay up, so I told him 'I think you spent too much time caddying on the LPGA Tour'!"
However, the words of wisdom proved well-founded as he eventually made the par-five he needed to win.
"It's unreal - an unbelievable feeling. It's probably the most nervous I've been," he added.
