Jordan Smith stormed to a wire-to-wire victory at the Portugal Masters, firing a flawless final-round 63 to win by three shots and finish the tournament with a stunning 30-under-par total.
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The Englishman made an eagle and six birdies on Sunday to claim his first win since the Porsche European Open in 2017 and move into the top 10 on the DP World Tour rankings.
“It’s just amazing. It’s been a long grind for those five seasons, just pushing it out and finally getting over the line today. Over the moon.
“I knew that today and every day I’d have to get off to fast starts and make sure I made lots of birdies.
“I knew there would be a lot of good scores out there and guys trying to catch me. Gavin was trying to get there and he was getting closer and closer but I managed to hold him off.
“It was a little bit (like match play). When we got down the last five or six holes, it got to that sort of stage. I knew he was four shots ahead of the guy in third so it was just between us two.
“It’s nice getting the first win but then it’s great knowing you can do it again. It’s more down to the pressure I put on myself to get the win and now I’ve got my second one we can push on for a couple more.”
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As well as holing some monster putts and producing a wonderful display of ball-striking, Smith pulled off one of the best par saves of the week at the 11th after getting into tree trouble.
His total is one shot better than the DP World Tour record set by Ernie Els at the 2023 Johnnie Walker Classic but will not enter the record books due to preferred lies this week.
Gavin Green, who finished in second on 27 under par courtesy of his closing 64, barely put a foot wrong but there was nothing he could do to stop Smith.
After his win, an emotional Smith said: “It’s just nice to finally get that second win.
“I’m just really happy with how I’ve done this year.”
Tapio Pulkkanen was five shots further behind Green in third, one ahead of fourth-placed Eddie Pepperell.
German duo Hurly Long and Sebastian Heisele were tied for fifth on 19 under, with Heisele heading into retirement on a high.
Everyone who started the week in the top 117 on the rankings managed to stay there, despite the best efforts of Renato Paratore, who missed out on keeping his card by one place despite his breath-taking 58-foot birdie on the last.
