JAMIE ABBOT WINS £10,000 PRIZE FOR FIRST TIME ON EUROPRO

By MICHAEL EMONS
PGA EuroPro Tour Press Officer
Jamie Abbott has won for the first time on the PGA EuroPro Tour after a thrilling final day at Wensum Valley .
Abbott, 23, finished top of the YourGolfTravel.com European Championship in Norfolk and collected the £10,000 top prize.
He ended on 216, even par, after rounds of 74 (+2), 69 (-3) and 73 (+1) to finish three shots ahead of Jason Levermore, James Busby and George Cowan.
“This is by far the biggest achievement of my career and I now have the taste of winning,” said a delighted Abbott, who only turned professional last summer.
“I never finished a tournament off at amateur level and I was always second, third or fourth.
“But winning is a nice feeling and I want to feel it again so hopefully in the next event at Burhill I can win again.
“I feel great and it’s nice to get the season off to a good start.
“I came close to winning at Slaley Hall last year but I finished second as my England colleague James Robinson beat me by one shot.”
Abbott, a member of the Fynn Valley Golf Club, near Ipswich, Suffolk , played in one of the biggest events of last year - the 2010 Open.
This is his first full season on the EuroPro Tour and believes his time playing at the Open has helped his game.
“I used a bit of experience gained in the play-off to qualify for the Open and I fell back on that,” added Abbott.
“I was a bit nervous coming up for the last few holes but I just reminded myself that I’ve done it before and I could do it again.”
In a thrilling final day, the lead changed hands on numerous occasions and at one point only three shots separating the top 14 players.
Levermore (Clacton), Busby (The Shropshire) and Cowan (Westerhope) ended in joint second on three-over for the tournament, one shot ahead of Alex Belt (The De Vere Club), Sam Matton (Bowood Hotel Spa and Golf Resort) and Martin LeMesurier (South Winchester).
Ed Wood (Crow Wood) and Jamie Howarth (De Vere Mottram Hall) started the final day in joint first position on two-under but both fell away on Thursday.
Wood suffered a miserable round as he bogeyed nine of the first 15 holes, while Howarth also struggled with seven bogeys and a double bogey at the second as they finished tied 26th and tied 8th respectively.
Matchroom Sport will now produce a two-hour highlights programme from the event, which will be broadcast on Sky Sports on Wednesday, May 18.

For more information, visit the official website www.europrotour.com


LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 216 (3x72)
216 Jamie Abbott (Fynn Valley) 74 69 73 (£10,000).
219 Jason Levermore (Clacton) 73 72 74, James Busby (Shropshire) 69 76 74, George Cowan (Westerhope) 72 72 75 (£3,066.67 each).
220 Alex Belt (The De Vere Club) 75 75 70, Sam Matton (Bowood Hotel) 72 77 71, Marin LeMesurier (South Winchester) 71 74 75  (£1,200 each).
221 Stephen Gray (Broad Carin Services) 75 74 72, David Rawluck (Ireland) 73 75 73, Daniel Wardrop (Didsbury) 75 73 73, Tom Haylock (The Hertfordshire) 76 71 74 (£775 each).
OTHER SCOTS' SCORES
222 Shaun McAllister (Craigielaw) 74 75 73 (T14)(£489).
224 Ed Wood (Crow Wood) 76 66 82 (T26) (£312).
225 John Gallagher (Swanston) 77 69 79 (T33) (£297).
226 Ross Cameron (Saltire Energy) 77 73 76 (T37) (£255).
227 Duncan Stewart (Grantown on Spey) 74 75 78 (T42) (£232).
228 Paul Doherty (Vale Hotel, Glamorgan) 76 74 78 (T46) (£212).
230 Lee Harper (Archerfield Links) 72 77 81 (48th) (£210).