Richie Ramsay enjoyed his maiden triumph on the Challenge Tour yesterday, the Vodafone Challenge in Dusseldorf, to claim the 22,400 top prize that gives him an excellent chance of promotion to the European Tour next season.

The 25-year-old Aberdonian, who identified himself as a real prospect two years ago when he became the first home-based Scot to win the US amateur crown, closed with a four-under-par 68 for a 16-under total of 272 in a Scottish one-two.

In joint second place was the 2004 Scottish amateur champion, George Murray, who missed an eight-foot putt to tie Ramsay on the final green but still had a 69 to tie with overnight leader, German amateur Stephan Gross, who had a 70. He followed a poor start with a magical spell by covering the six holes from the seventh in seven under par - five birdies and an eagle 3 at the ninth.

"It's my first win as a professional after years and years of hard work, and I'm just so happy," he said. "My grandfather taught me golf when I was six years old, so a lot of credit goes to him. I talked to Andrew Coltart this week and he told me to keep believing in myself. I kept that in mind when I bogeyed three of the first five holes."

The result moved him up 19 places on the order of merit to No.14. The top 20 at the end of the season are promoted to the top tour. Ramsay is due to move on to the Czech Republic this week followed by Denmark and a week off prior to big-money events in China and Kazakhstan.

Because he was tied with an amateur, Murray earned the full second-place money of 15,400 that moved him up 49 places to No.39.

In Switzerland, Steven O'Hara was fourth in the limited-field Trophee du Golf Club de Geneve, another Challenge Tour event. He closed with a two-under-par 70 for a 12-under aggregate of 276 to miss out by two strokes on a three-way play-off won by Sweden's Klas Eriksson.

O'Hara won 10,000 that lifted him up two places to No.7 which puts him in shape for a European Tour card that way if he fails to retain his current status on the big tour on which he lies No.156.

In Sweden, Gary Orr was joint fourth in the SAS Masters which virtually secures his card for next season. His winnings of 67,947 lifted him 23 places to No.88, well inside the top 115 who keep their cards.

On the US PGA Tour, Scotland's Martin Laird booked his place in the first event of the FedEx Cup series, The Barclays, this week in New York with a seven-under-par 63 for a 16-under aggregate of 264 in the Wyndham Championship.

With the leaders still on the course, a top-five finish looked likely and he was projected to rise more than the 20 places he needed to make the top 144 who qualify for The Barclays.

Laird, joint leader after an opening 63, slipped with a second-round 74. He called a two-shot penalty on himself after failing to replace his ball correctly on the 18th green, his ninth.

In the amateur world, Balmore's Fraser McKenna lost at the third extra hole to Portugal's Pedro Figueiredo in the 36-hole final of the Boys Amateur Championship. McKenna was one up playing the 36th where his opponent holed from 40 feet to take the match into sudden death and won when the 17-year-old Scot failed to get up and down from a greenside bunker.