McGowan holds nerve in Madrid for maiden tour win

Madrid: Britain`s Ross McGowan claimed his first European Tour victory when he made the most of a huge overnight lead to win the Madrid Masters by three shots from Finland`s Mikko Ilonen.

The little-known 27-year-old had gone into the final day with a seven-stroke advantage, the biggest 54-hole lead on this year`s tour, after he drained 10 birdies and two eagles in a sensational round of 60 on Saturday. He started nervously at the Centro Nacional de Golf on Sunday, bogeying the first and fourth holes, but a one-under-par round of 71 left him on 25 under, three clear of Ilonen and four ahead of fellow Briton David Drysdale. "I came here this week in form and it`s lovely to come away with the trophy," McGowan told reporters."It means a lot to win," he added. "That`s another goal out of the way and hopefully from here I can progress and move on to bigger things." McGowan, who turned professional at the end of 2006 after winning the English Amateur Championship, had his lead cut to two with four to play before he nailed a birdie at the 15th. He rode his luck on the last when he pulled his second shot and finished on wooden sleepers just above the lake but managed to save par for a total of 263."Once I saw where some of the pins were it was a lot trickier and my game-plan was to hit as many greens as I could," he said. McGowan`s remarkable round of 60 was the second on the circuit in less than a month but unlike Spaniard Rafael Cabrera-Bello`s at the Austrian Open, it will not feature in the record books as placing was allowed on the fairways. Bureau Report