Howie rises to challenge in impressive fashion to secure his first victory

Craig Howie recorded an impressive seven-stroke victory to claim his first European Challenge Tour title at the Range Servant Challenge in Sweden.

The 26-year-old Scot took a three-shot lead into the final round at Hinton Golf Club in Malmo and he never looked like being caught as he posted a six under par round of 66 to reach 22 under par, seven strokes clear of Denmark’s Marcus Helligkilde who finished second on 15 under par following a closing round of 67.

Howie opened with a birdie and a bogey in his first two holes before an eagle at the par five fourth hole settled the nerves and put further breathing space between himself and the chasing pack.

Another birdie at the eighth saw the Peebles man make the turn with a sixstroke lead, before adding a further three birdies on the back nine to see out victory and move to second place on the Road to Mallorca Rankings.

“I’m absolutely buzzing,” he said. “I’ve worked really hard for this so it’s really satisfying.

“I don’t think any lead is comfortable until you finish it off. I just tried to play my own game and with a few holes to go I knew I had a lead of at least three or four shots, so I was just plodding my way round and making sure I wasn’t dropping any shots, and that was good enough.

“Every day I tried to minimise mistakes. I think I only made two bogeys all week, which was really important. I probably putted better than most people did this week. The putter was working really well, so that was probably the biggest reason why the margin was so big.

“I’ve been trending. My game has been really good but I’ve just not been able to string four rounds together.

“I played three really good rounds and one poor one every week in South Africa, so I knew it wasn’t far away.”

The Scotsman is attached to compatriot and major winner Paul Lawrie’s

management company and, after securing victory in Malmo, Howie paid tribute to the 1999 Open champion’s influence.

“Paul’s been great,” he said. “When I first signed with his management company he brought in a couple of sponsors that helped me play.

“I was able to play with a bit more freedom, which was huge.

“Just on the side, he’s always there to contact if I need to speak to him. He’s helped me with some shortgame stuff, which is pretty invaluable.

“You don’t get a nickname like Chippy if you’re not

pretty handy around the greens. He’s been great. There’s been a lot of people who have helped and Paul is one of them.”

Three-time Challenge Tour winner Espen Kofstad, from Norway, finished third on 14 under par, while Scotland’s Ewen Ferguson, Frenchman Jeong weon Ko, Germany’s Hurly Long and Denmark’s Niklas Nørgaard Møller shared fourth place on 13 under par.

Poland’s Mateusz Gradecki, Swede Anton Karlsson and Denmark’s Nicolai Kristensen completed the top 10, sharing eighth place on 12 under par.

Craig Howie won the Range Servant Challenge in Malmo.

Paul Lawrie, left, and Ewen Ferguson, who was 13 under.