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London - England's Eddie Pepperell survived torrential rain to win the British Masters on Sunday, with a little help from his mum.
Pepperell clinched his second European Tour title of the season after recording a final round of 72 at a wet and windy Walton Heath to finish on nine under par, two shots ahead of Sweden's Alexander Bjork.
But it was only thanks to his mother giving him a pair of gloves mid-round that Pepperell was able to endure the difficult conditions.
"The credit for the eagle goes to my mum Marian because she gave me some mittens as I was walking off the 10th tee," Pepperell said.
"It was such a tough day in the conditions, I didn't swing it well from the get-go and it was an absolute grind.
"I did not sleep great the last two nights. It was hard to keep my mind on the golf because I was leading all week.
"I played terrible leading up to the event. I had to grind it out at times and I guess to have won like that is really satisfying."
Australian Lucas Herbert and England's Jordan Smith ended two shots further back, with tournament host Justin Rose carding a closing 70 to finish eighth on three under.
The win will take Pepperell into the world's top 35 and almost certainly secure a Masters debut in 2019, with the top 50 at the end of the year qualifying for the first major of the year at Augusta National in April.
Pepperell was ranked outside the top 500 as recently as May last year, but won the Qatar Masters in February and tied for sixth place in the British Open.
His three-shot overnight lead was down to a single stroke when playing partner Bjork covered the front nine in 34.
However, the 27-year-old holed his second shot to the 10th from 122 yards for an eagle to move three clear and a par save from off the green on the 14th looked to have sealed the win.
There was still time for some late drama as Pepperell dropped shots on the 15th and 16th to see his lead cut to a single shot.
But Bjork bogeyed the 18th after driving into the heather and Pepperell saved par to seal the silverware.
Leading final round scores in the European Tour's British Masters at Walton Heath Golf Club on Sunday (GBR/IRL unless stated; par 72):
279 - Eddie Pepperell 67, 69, 71, 72
281 - Alexander Bjork (SWE) 69, 73, 68, 71
283 - Lucas Herbert (AUS) 72, 75, 67, 69, Jordan Smith 71, 69, 70, 73
284 - Julian Suri (USA) 70, 71, 69, 74, Tom Lewis 70, 73, 71, 70, Sam Horsfield 71, 70, 74, 69
285 - Justin Rose 74, 72, 69, 70
286 - Lucas Bjerregaard (DEN) 74, 67, 72, 73, Li Haotong (CHN) 73, 74, 69, 70, Ricardo Gouveia (POR) 76, 70, 72, 68, Andrew Sullivan 69, 72, 73, 72, Tommy Fleetwood 67, 77, 70, 72, Gavin Green (MAL) 69, 78, 68, 71, Oliver Farr 73, 73, 71, 69
287 - Steven Brown 69, 73, 72, 73, Matt Wallace 67, 72, 73, 75, Andrea Pavan (ITA) 73, 72, 67, 75, Clement Sordet (FRA) 69, 77, 70, 71, Matthew Fitzpatrick 69, 73, 71, 74, Edoardo Molinari (ITA) 74, 72, 71, 70
