Phillips makes his Mark

Mark Phillips won the Bermuda Amateur Stroke Play Championship on Monday and vowed to use it as a platform to collect more silverware.

The 24-year-old shot one under par in a solid final round to claim first place, with Jarryd Dillas seven shots back in overall second and Robert Vallis and Will Haddrell a further shot behind tied for third.

“It was a good win. I wouldn’t say I expected it, and it was a challenge to get, but it’s a great achievement,” Phillips told the Sun.

It was the first Amateur Stroke Play victory for Island Games gold medallist Phillips, who kicked off the tournament with a superb two-under 69.

A second-round 73 followed before carding 77 in a third round made trickier by the weather.

It meant he began the final round with  only a slender one-shot lead over Dillas.

“In the third round, the conditions were a little bit tougher, it was a little bit windier out there, and I shot a six-over par. 

“I came back the next day and I pretty much said to myself I need a par or better to hopefully cut it. I shot one under par to win by seven.”

He added: “I’ve just got to keep going and do it again and try to win some more as I go along.”

Phillips finished five over for the tournament, with a gross score of 289. 

In the Ladies’ Championship, Tariqah M Walikraam, 25, won by eight shots from Katrin Burnie. Walikraam carded rounds of 79, 94 and 88 to finish 48 over par gross. Linda Down was third — 10 shots behind the champion.

Elizabeth Parsons was leading the field by three shots after the first two rounds but school commitments meant she had to withdraw from the tournament.