EDDIE Pepperell held his nerve to record a career-best success with victory in golf’s prestigious British Masters at Walton Heath.

The 27-year-old, from Abingdon, led the tournament from the first round and went into the final 18 holes with a three-shot lead.

But after seeing his advantage cut to just one going into the last two holes by Swedish playing partner Alexander Bjork, Pepperell was forced to dig deep for victory.

After his hole-in-one heroics in the opening round, the Frilford Heath member produced another shot to savour, sinking his approach at the par-four tenth for an eagle.

And he joked a lot of the praise for his victory, which sees him pick up more than £500,000 and will see his ranking rocket into the world’s top 35 – virtually ensuring him a place in the US Masters next year – should go to his mother.

“The credit for the eagle goes to my mum Marian because she gave me some mittens as I was walking off the tenth tee,” he laughed.

“It was such a tough day. 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. My mind was very active, especially with all the stuff after the hole-in-one, the social media. It was hard to keep my mind on the golf because I was leading all week.

“I didn’t do much practice and I played terrible leading up to the event. Wednesday was the worst I’ve played for ages.”

He added: “I had to grind it out at times and I guess to have won like that is really satisfying.

“I was not sure how I felt being in the lead in this tournament compared to any other, but now I’ve won it does feel very special.”

Pepperell led by three shots with four holes to go, but bogeys at the 15th and 16th saw his advantage cut to just one.

Both players parred the 17th and then each found the greenside bunker on the final hole.

But Pepperell played the better shot and when Bjork missed his putt for par, the Oxfordshire man sank his to take victory.