Tuesday 4 August 2015 11:18, UK
Finland's Roope Kakko fired a sparkling final-round 63 to seal a convincing three-shot win at the Madeira Islands Open.
The 33-year-old, who burst into contention at the Clube De Golf do Santo da Serra on Saturday with a 64 to lie one shot behind leader Pontus Widegren at the 54-hole mark, continued his stunning weekend by going one better on Sunday.
He picked up four shots on the front nine, including three in a row from the fifth, before kicking off the back nine with an eagle at the par-four 10th
Three further birdies along the closing stretch secured Kakko's maiden European Tour title, with Scott Henry taking second spot after kicking off his six-under 66 with a hat-trick of gains.
"I'm speechless," the two-time Challenge Tour winner said. "I came here to try to win this event and change my career, so I'm over the moon to have done it.
"There was a lot of pressure but I had some pretty good thoughts in me, so I was able to handle it. Sometimes it doesn't go the way you plan it but it all went my way today.
"I told myself to just stick to my game plan and eventually I'm going to make a few. I actually targeted a 67 today and I went a bit lower than that, so that was great.
"This is definitely the best moment of my career but I have to say that it really helped me to have won two years ago on the Challenge Tour in Oman. I was at a stage where I really needed to win and I did it, and that really helped me today, calmed me down when the pressure was on."
Fellow Scot Andrew McArthur matched Kakko's 63 to take third while a bogey-free 65 from Sebastian Soderberg left the Swede in a tie for fourth with overnight leader Pontus Widegren, who posted two bogeys on the back nine and closed his final round level-par.
South Africa’s Brandon Stone also stuttered to a 72 as he ended in the group ten shots back in a tie for seventh, with Ryan Fox, who went in to the final round within one of the lead, a further stroke adrift despite carding six consecutive birdies in a seven-under 65.
