GOLF Maiden Win on European Tour for Michael Hoey

Michael Hoey tasted success for the first time on the European Tour with victory in the Estoril Open de Portugal following a nail biting play-off win against Spain's Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano.

Hoey lying in19th position overnight shot a five under par 66 to race up the leader board to complete his four rounds in a 7 under par total of 277. He had to wait anxiously for an hour or so before the Fernandez-Castano also completed his four rounds on 7 under.

The Spaniard was slight favourite to win as he had won his three previous play-offs on tour. They played the 18th twice before Hoey sank a par putt to clinch victory. 30 year old Hoey was jubilant after his victory.

He said "I did'nt really think about winning but I had all the breaks and it really was my day. It's a totally a life changing moment, its amazing really. If I can keep this mentality going it's definitely the way forward. It's not going to sink in yet. It's bit of a dream that I will cherish for a long time and I'd just want to thank all those people who have supported m over the years"

Hoey, a three time winner on the Challenge Tour graduated from the European Tour Qualifying School in November and has received funding totalling €125,000 over seven years from the Team Ireland Golf Trust.

The Team Ireland Golf Trust is a public private partnership designed to provide support, both financial and non-financial, to emerging Irish professional golfers to help them realise their potential on the world stage.

Golfers on the scheme have access to the sports science and medicine network already provided by the Irish Sports Council to high performance athletes on the International Carding Scheme.

Access to these services is administered by Coaching Ireland in Limerick. Since 2006 golfers supported by the Trust are able to freely access the Golfing Union of Ireland's new National Academy facilities at Carton Demesne in Maynooth, Co. Kildare.