Single-shot victory sets Edouard Dubois on fast track to European Tour spot

EDOUARD Dubois, a 22-year-old from Bordeaux, is on course to earn an early graduation to the European Tour after winning the £195,000 Scottish Hydro Challenge at Macdonald Spey Valley - his second Challenge Tour triumph in three weeks.

As hopes of a third successive home win in the event petered out on a tricky day for scoring on the outskirts of Aviemore - halfway leader Chris Doak eventually finished in a tie for eighth after following his 71 on Saturday with a closing 74 - Dubois was rewarded for hardly putting a foot wrong all week as he claimed the 31,500 top prize.

In signing off with a two-under 69, he finished on 271 to win by a shot from overnight leader Matthew Southgate, the Englishman recovering from a shaky start to finish birdie-birdie and pip fellow countryman Sam Hutsby and Welshman Sion Bebb for second spot.

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Dubois, who missed the cut in this event 12 months ago and finished 42nd on the money list last year, came from two shots behind Southgate to claim his victory, having overturned a five-shot deficit to record his maiden professional win in Austria at the start of the month.

One more Challenge Tour victory for the Frenchman - Edoardo Molinari achieved the hat-trick feat in 2009 before going on to become a two-time winner in Scotland on the main circuit and a Ryder Cup player in Wales last year - will secure an immediate step up to the main Tour without having to wait and see if he finishes the season among the 20 card winners on the money-list.

"It is fantastic to win, especially when I did not think the conditions today would suit me. Now it would be amazing to follow Edorado," said Dubois, who said he had turned down an invite for this week's money-spinning French Open and will be heading to Sweden to concentrate on his Challenge Tour campaign.

Also two off the pace at the start of play, Doak quickly earned a share of the lead. As he was picking up a birdie at the second, Southgate, a long-time Carnoustie member and St Andrews Links Trophy winner, started with a bogey and the nerves appeared to be getting the better of the rookie as he also dropped a shot at the second.

Doak was still in contention as he birdied the seventh, but his hopes of emulating the wins here by Jamie McLeary (2009) and George Murray (2010) disappeared on the back of dropped shots by the 33-year-old at the eighth and 11th.

The Greenock man rallied with a birdie at the 14th only to then drop three shots in a row to end up on eight-under, just hanging on to finish as the leading Scot to claim the inaugural Douglas Lowe Memorial Trophy. "It was tricky with clubbing in the wind," said the Scottish PGA champion.

Dubois made his move with birdies at the fifth and eighth to be out in 33 and moved to three-under for his round with a birdie at the 11th, which saw him open up a two-shot cushion. He then dropped his first shot of the entire week at the 12th but Colombo and Southgate also took 5s there, leaving the Frenchman with no one really breathing down his neck as he parred in.

Southgate's strong finish saw him salvage a 72 and just hold off both Bebb, a 42-year-old journeyman who won the Wales Challenge five years ago, and 22-year-old Hutsby, who played in the last Walker Cup at Merion, after they both came roaring through the field with error-free closing 65s. Bebb went out in 31, five-under, while Hutsby came home in 32.

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After picking up 4,000 in winning the Paul Lawrie Invitational, Andrew McArthur secured another decent pay-day as a closing 67 hoisted him up the leaderboard to finish joint-14th on 277. He started with an eagle and was out in 30 before a dropped shot at the 12th halted his charge.

Jack Doherty, the former Australian amateur champion, also finished on seven-under after a bogey-free 70, but it was a disappointing closing day's play for Greig Hutcheon and Gavin Dear, who had headed into the final round lying fifth and ninth respectively.

Hutcheon, whose 67 on Saturday was the best round of the day, was never in the hunt after running up a double-bogey 6 at the third. Back-to-back birdies at the 13th and 14th hoisted him back up the leaderboard again but the roller-coaster continued with a double-bogey 7 at the 17th and a bogey to finish as he closed with a 75 for 279.

Dear started promisingly as he picked up two shots in his opening three holes only to undo that good work by dropping four shots in three holes from the seventh. He spilled two more - at the 11th and 12th - and limped to a worst-of-the-day 77 for 282.

Craig Lee, who came into the event lying second on the Challenge Tour money-list after his second place in France last weekend, finished last of the Scottish qualifiers on this occasion, closing with a 73 for 283.

271 E Dubois (Fra) 67 69 66 69,

272 M Southgate (Eng) 69 64 67 72,

273 S Hutsby (Eng) 73 64 71 65, S Bebb (Wal) 70 67 71 65,

274 F Colombo (Ita) 69 64 69 72, E Kofstad (Nor) 70 67 67 70,

275 R Santos (Por) 72 67 70 66,

276 B Evans (Eng) 68 67 69 72, S Tiley (Eng) 70 68 68 70, C Doak (Sco) 63 68 71 74, P Archer (Eng) 68 71 68 69, A Snobeck (Fra) 71 66 69 70, J Heath (Eng) 72 68 67 69,

277 A McArthur (Sco) 71 68 71 67, D Perrier (Fra) 72 67 72 66, M Delpodio (Ita) 69 70 68 70, A Hansen (Den) 70 66 72 69, J Doherty (Sco) 69 69 69 70,

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278 J Lima (Por) 68 64 75 71, B Ritthammer (Ger) 74 66 69 69, C Moriarty (Irl) 69 69 69 71,

279 L Kennedy (Eng) 71 65 68 75, G Hutcheon (Sco) 67 72 65 75, R Hjelm (Den) 71 68 69 71, S Little (Eng) 67 72 72 68,

280 M Lundberg (Swe) 68 72 73 67, A Versfeld (RSA) 66 71 73 70,

281 A Pavan (Ita) 68 69 71 73, L Canter (Eng) 70 66 77 68, O Whiteley (Eng) 69 69 73 70, B Barham (Eng) 71 66 70 74,

282 J Abbott (Eng) 69 71 74 68, A Maestroni (Ita) 73 67 73 69, G Dear (Sco) 68 66 71 77, L Jensen (Den) 68 69 74 71, P Gustafsson (Swe) 70 69 70 73, C Russo (Fra) 69 67 74 72, J Grillon (Fra) 67 72 73 70, S Walker (Eng) 69 67 74 72,

283 T Fleetwood (Eng) 71 65 76 71, J Van Der Vaart (Ned) 69 70 74 70, C Carranza (Arg) 70 67 75 71, S Davis (Eng) 72 67 72 72, K Eriksson (Swe) 73 66 71 73, C Lee (Sco) 70 66 74 73,

284 J Lagergren (Swe) 72 68 72 72, A Marshall (Eng) 67 70 73 74, B kesson (Swe) 68 69 76 71, R Wingardh (Swe) 73 66 72 73, J Estevez (Arg) 69 70 77 68,

285 G Lockerbie (Eng) 70 68 73 74, M Baldwin (Eng) 69 70 72 74, A Canete (Arg) 69 71 72 73, J Morgan (Eng) 72 68 74 71, A Ahokas (Fin) 72 68 71 74, A Perrino (Ita) 71 69 74 71,

286 M Evans (Eng) 68 72 73 73, D Lloyd (RSA) 67 69 83 67,

287 D Vancsik (Arg) 69 70 73 75,

289 E Bertheussen (Nor) 71 68 76 74,

290 G Adell (Swe) 68 70 80 72