Cornish golfer Rhys Enoch has won his maiden Challenge Tour title at the D+D REAL Slovakia Challenge.

Truro-born Enoch shot a four-under-par final round at the Penati Golf Resort in Senica on Sunday to finish 18-under-par across the four rounds and win by one stroke from Australia’s Josh Geary.

The Challenge Tour is Europe’s official developmental tour and is organised by the PGA European Tour, which houses the elite European Tour.

The triumph will see Enoch rise up the Challenge Tour rankings from his current position of 68, with the top 15 at the end of the season earning direct promotion to the 2020 European Tour, while those ranked 16-45 may gain qualification for some European Tour events.

It is also set to be Enoch’s biggest payday on the tour, eclipsing the €20,855 he won for his joint 67th finish in last year’s Open Championship.

Enoch, who represents Wales on the tour, finished the first round on Thursday with five birdies in a four-under 68, before shooting one higher in Friday’s second round.

He followed that with the joint second-best round of the competition on Saturday, with his eight birdies in a seven-under round of 65 putting his well into title contention heading into the final round.

Enoch started Sunday’s deciding round in second spot and shot another 68 round to move above leader Darius van Driel, who saw his title bid go up in smoke with a four-over-par 76 to drop down to joint eighth.

The title is Enoch’s first professional win since February 2018, when he emerged victorious at the Cape Town Open in the South Africa-based Sunshine Tour. He also won the 2017 Boavista Classic on the Portugal Pro Golf Tour and the Bowood Championship tile on the Jamega Tour in 2012.

The victory will soften the blow of having failed to qualify for this year’s Open Championship, which takes place at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland from July 18-21, just a few days earlier.

Enoch finished joint 14th in final qualifying at Notts Golf Club on Tuesday with a par finish over the two rounds, five strokes off the top three qualification spots.

Enoch made his US Open major debut last month and finished 71st on seven-over-par at Pebble Beach in California, including a round of 65 which has been bettered only three times in US Open history on the course.