Ricardo Santos showed his class and DP World Tour experience, winning the Portugal Tour’s “Optilink Tour Championship”, which was held over three days on the Dom Pedro Victoria course that also hosts the Portugal Masters.
At the close of day one it was a Portuguese front row lock out, with Pedro Figueiredo leading with a 4 under par 68, Hugo Santos on 3 under par and Hugo’s brother and eventual winner Ricardo, on 2 under.
The second day saw Ricardo Santos surge into the lead with a magnificent 6 under par 66, giving him a 4-shot cushion over Sam Locke 72, 68, with brother Hugo, Bradley Bawden, James Adams and overnight leader Figueiredo a further shot adrift.
The final days play saw some dramatic changes of fortune, with a best of the day 66 from Kieran Cantley elevating him into a tie for second on 7 under par, alongside Ben Bailey who shot a tremendous 67.
However, a not to be denied Ricardo Santos sailed serenely on, adding a 5 under par 67 for a total of 13 under par and a 6-shot victory.
A big thank you goes firstly, to “Optilink” for sponsoring the event, which proved to be a great success, with a Portuguese winner and secondly our heartfelt thanks go to Dom Pedro Victoria for hosting the event, providing a superb course and incredible hospitality for the players and also the Tours officials.
That concludes our season until we start again in November, when we hope to once again welcome players from all over Europe and beyond to take advantage of the fantastic weather and facilities which the courses in Portugal have to offer.