And there have been 1,145 Tour tournaments before now!

The Malaga youngster, winner of the British boys title when he was only 15, went into the record books with a stunning performance in the Portuguese Open at Oitavos.

Eight shots adrift midway through the third round, Martin followed his back nine 29 with a bogey-free closing round of 68 to beat France's Raphael Jacquelin by one.

"It feels great - absolutely great," he said before going off to celebrate the triumph with his family.

The Oklahoma State University star - he has already won the Jack Nicklaus award as the top college player in the States and will lead the amateur world rankings as a result of this - announced immediately afterwards that he will still not be turning professional until the summer.

"I've already thought about it," he said. "I've got to play with Oklahoma. They've been giving me so many things and it does not enter my mind right now."

He was unable to claim the £141,157 first prize, which went to Jacquelin instead, but whenever he makes the switch he is certain to cash in on a feat which even proved beyond Tiger Woods and Martin's fellow Spanish greats Seve Ballesteros, Jose Maria Olazabal and Sergio Garcia.

Victory earns him an exemption until the end of 2009, but if he delays switching longer than two weeks he will only be able to accept five more invitations in Europe this year.

Just five weeks after making the halfway cut at a US Tour event in Mexico, Martin took full advantage of the absence of Europe's leading lights, all away preparing for the Masters.

It was just his fifth start on the European circuit, but anyone who saw his second four years ago and has monitored his progress since will not be surprised.

Martin led the 2003 Spanish Open in Tenerife with 17 holes to play, but fell away then to 22nd place with a 74.

"I think I have matured a little bit since then," he said.

The last amateur to win a professional event in Europe was Ireland's Dr David Sheehan at the 1962 Jeyes Tournament at Royal Dublin. But that came before the formation of the Tour.

Phil Mickelson was the last player to do it on the US Tour at the 1991 Tucson Open.

Two behind with a round to go, Martin moved into a tie for the lead with a 10-foot birdie putt on the fourth and went ahead on his own when he chipped to four feet at the long seventh.

With overnight pacesetters Alex Noren and Ross McGowan both falling away to 76s, Martin moved three clear with seven to play, but Jacquelin made it interesting by two-putting the 573-yard 16th for birdie and then chipping in from 30 feet for another at the last.

That was the hole where two years ago Barry Lane, leading by one, crashed to a quintuple bogey nine. But Martin found the fairway, hit his second to 25 feet and two-putted for the title.

Joint third were English pair Graeme Storm and David Griffiths, South African Charl Schwartzel and German Martin Kaymer.

Former Open champion Paul Lawrie finished 25th, taking a triple bogey seven on the 17th and double bogey six on the 18th.

Paul Broadhurst, who was trying to join Ian Woosnam, Nick Faldo, Colin Montgomerie and Woods as the only players to win a European tournament three years in a row, managed only 54th place.

ALL THE FINAOL ROUND SCORES

(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 71):

277 Pablo Martin-Benavides (x) (Spa) 73 70 66 68

278 Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 70 69 72 67

281 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 74 71 67 69, David Griffiths 76 69 68 68, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 72 69 73 67, Graeme Storm 72 67 70 72

282 Andrew Oldcorn 76 69 66 71, Sven Struver (Ger) 70 70 72 70, Alastair Forsyth 73 69 69 71, Michael Jonzon (Swe) 71 71 69 71

283 Alexander Noren (Swe) 71 68 68 76, Stephen Gallacher 68 71 73 71, Tom Whitehouse 74 71 68 70, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 71 72 71 69, Mark Foster 77 67 70 69, Peter Lawrie 73 70 71 69

284 Gary Orr 70 73 73 68, Lee S James 73 71 70 70, Luis Claverie (Spa) 72 68 73 71, Ross McGowan 68 68 72 76

285 Jamie Spence 72 73 66 74, Nick Dougherty 69 69 75 72, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 71 71 71 72, Simon Dyson 67 74 73 71

286 Benn Barham 72 67 77 70, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 72 73 72 69, Euan Little 72 69 72 73, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 76 68 74 68, Simon Khan 73 68 76 69, Paul Lawrie 72 72 67 75, Paul McGinley 76 70 70 70, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 73 70 71 72, Van Phillips 75 70 72 69

287 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 70 75 72 70, Jesus Maria Arruti (Spa) 75 71 69 72, Henrik Nystrom (Swe) 76 69 74 68, Oliver Fisher 73 71 73 70, Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 72 72 75 68, Carl Suneson (Spa) 74 71 73 69, Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 77 66 73 71, Taichi Teshima (Jpn) 71 69 70 77, Markus Brier (Aut) 75 71 68 73, Sam Little 72 73 70 72, Gregory Havret (Fra) 72 74 68 73, Barry Lane 69 75 72 71

288 Richard Bland 71 69 75 73, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 72 71 73 72, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 76 70 72 70, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 72 71 73 72, Adrien Mork (Fra) 73 73 72 70, David Bransdon (Aus) 71 70 74 73, Santiago Luna (Spa) 73 71 70 74, Ian Garbutt 73 73 73 69

289 Tiago Cruz (Por) 70 76 71 72, Gary Lockerbie 71 73 73 72, Brian Davis 76 70 72 71, Soren Hansen (Den) 73 72 67 77, John Bickerton 74 72 71 72, Steven O'Hara 73 73 75 68, Paul Broadhurst 69 71 75 74

290 Jonathan Lomas 76 69 72 73, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 70 71 73 76, Johan Axgren (Swe) 71 74 72 73, David Lynn 71 71 75 73, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 72 71 72 75

291 Hennie Otto (Rsa) 73 71 74 73, Scott Drummond 75 69 72 75

292 Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 75 71 77 69

293 Gary Murphy 73 71 73 76, Marcus Higley 72 73 75 73

294 Mattias Eliasson (Swe) 74 70 73 77, Gary Emerson 72 72 74 76

296 Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 74 70 76 76