Order of Merit leader Scott Hend, and one of the men chasing him down, Peter Baker, were a further shot back at -11 after their rounds of 67. Welshman Phillip Price, who led by four after the first two rounds, having opened up with a scintillating 64, endured a day to forget. The 2002 Ryder Cup star was the only player in the top-20 to shoot over par and ended up in sixth place at -10 after a 74.

This was Marshall’s first win and a case of patience being rewarded after a number of near-misses in recent years, including in Italy two years ago when James Kingston roared through the field to shoot 61 and claim victory.

“It’s amazing what happens. Phil actually hit it in the hole on three and it was going so fast, it just hit the pin and then went through the green. So a lovely shot becomes a three-putt bogey and you wonder if it’s a sign. I just played lovely around the turn and got to five or six-under and it was all about the timing of it. I then ran out of holes to mess up and here I am soaked in champagne. Now I know I can do it, hopefully it won’t be too long before it happens again or I give myself a chance at least.”

With Price slipping back into the pack, a number of players made charges towards the top of the leaderboard including Scott Hend, who eagled the second and then added further birdies to move to -10 at the turn.

Johan Edfors also looked to be in with a shout after a back-nine 31 got him to -12. Playing in his first Legends Tour event, the Swede notched 17 birdies for the week and clearly enjoyed a return to a venue he last played 20 years ago.

“It’s been great coming back to San Domenico,” said the three-time DP World Tour winner. “I’ve had a fantastic first week on the Legends Tour. I have been practising and playing a few events but there’s a huge difference playing in a proper tournament. I was happy with my game coming in and it was nice to be able to bring that onto the course as well. It was tougher than I thought, but I was actually pretty calm and played my best golf of the week today. If I could have just holed a few more putts it could have been a really great day. I hit a lot of good shots and gave myself a lot of good chances and that’s all you want.”

France’s Lionel Alexandre – who graduated from Q-School in January – took a huge step towards retaining his playing rights for 2026 as he joined playing partner Edfors in second place, with the pair feeding off each other’s good form.

I played great today and had good fun with an old friend, 25 years after the last time we played together. It was really fun to play with him and we were just pushing each other on. I have to work a bit on my putting because that’s the key to winning. Hopefully I can go one better in Spain. I know my game is okay, it’s just about the putting

This was Alexandre fourth top-five finish of the season lifts him to 17^th in the Order of Merit, with the top 20 guaranteed to play all events next season.

The top-10 at San Domenico was rounded off by 2004 Volvo PGA Championship winner, Scott Drummond, who recorded his best finish of the season, as well as Stephen Gallacher, Bradley Dredge, Craig Farrelly and Mikael Lundberg, who now sits fourth in the Order of Merit. All five finished at -9.

The Legends Tour now moves on to La Manga in, Murcia, Spain for the Champions UK plc European Senior Masters hosted by Peter Baker.