BEN Loughrey held his nerve in a three-way, sudden-death, play-off to secure his first professional win on the Jamega Pro Golf Tour at The Wychwood in Oxfordshire last week.

It took the fourth extra hole to separate the Wrag Barn golfer, 27, from rivals Sam Day and Louis Hirst after they finished tied at four under par over the two rounds.

Loughrey, whose younger brother, Josh, plays on the European Challenge Tour, then celebrated with a game of bingo, before returning to work at the family business at Over Farm Market in Gloucestershire.

“Throughout the second round I wasn’t thinking about winning,” Loughrey, who played in the penultimate group after a first round 71, said. “I was just having fun.

The formula worked as he picked up five shots over the closing four holes, including an eagle-two at the last, where he drove a three wood 270 yards uphill to within four feet.

“It was an unbelievable finish,” he admitted. “I hit a great shot, but to get it that close from that distance takes a bit of luck. It got the right bounces and worked out nicely.”

Loughrey nearly blew his chance at the first extra hole, the first, when he found the trees, before scrambling to salvage par. He then took charge and on the return to the 18th, missed a six-foot putt for the win before it was back to the first hole again and a 20-foot putt for victory lipped out.

Back on the 18th, he again drove the green and when neither Hirst nor Day could get up and down for birdie, Loughrey rolled a 35-foot putt to within a foot and tapped in.

“The win has been a long time coming,” he said. “I’ve had chances before, but it doesn’t change much for me. I’ve still come to work today.

“I don’t play anything but Jamega Tour events now. I had aspirations of being a professional on the European Tour, but now I enjoy working in the family business. My priorities have changed. I don’t practice or warm-up, but if I play badly, the world keeps going round and I’m back to run the Pick Your Own Strawberries.”