Thomas Pieters wins Portugal Masters

Thomas Pieters won his fifth European Tour title after a gutsy final round performance at the Portugal Masters, winning by two strokes at Dom Pedro Victoria.

The Belgian started the day in a share of the lead with Matthieu Pavon, but the Frenchman was cruising after the first eleven holes, holding a two-stroke lead as the pair stood on the 12th tee.
Pavon, chasing a maiden European Tour title, found the water twice on the par five, eventually carding a triple-bogey eight, while Pieters birdied for a four-stroke swing, moving to 19 under par.
Pieters recovered from a bogey on the 14th with a birdie on the 17th and then rolled in a par putt on the 18th hole from twenty feet for a two-stroke victory, his first since the 2019 D+D REAL Czech Masters.
“It feels amazing, really… It felt like a long time between victories. But Adam and I worked so hard, felt like I deserve one. It’s never easy coming down the stretch," said Pieters.
"I saw one of the Højgaards, I don’t know which one it was, was up there again. I knew I needed a birdie on the last two and that putt on the last was fantastic. I really fancied it, perfect speed and it was nice."
The 29-year-old has now secured his place in the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, moving up to twenty-ninth on the Rankings from 70th.

Sharing second with Pavon were the Danish pair of Lucas Bjerregaard and Nicolai Højgaard. Højgaard was chasing his second European Tour victory in the space of just six starts, while Bjerregaard shored up his position inside the Top 100 on the Rankings, securing playing privileges for the 2022 Race to Dubai.