ANDY Thompson left some of the world's top golfers in his wake as he won the Benson and Hedges Pro Am celebrity tournament at the Oxfordshire last week with professional partner Robert Karrsberg.

The combination of the former Flackwell Heath youngster and Karssberg, Europe's sixth biggest prize winner, was too good for the top class field of golf stars and showbiz celebrities who played in the tournament which preceded the Benson and Hedges Open.

Against professional golfing greats and celebrities such as Steve Hendry, John Parrott and Ronnie Corbett, it would have been easy for Thompson to go to pot.

But the 40-year-old three-handicap player, held his nerve to win the tournament in front of a large crowd.

Proud dad Walter from Tylers Green introduced him to the sport as a youngster but missed his big win.

He said: "Andy did ask me to caddie for him but I couldn't because I had a prior engagement so I missed what must be the biggest win of his life."

But golfers at Flackwell Heath Golf Club will not have been surprised by Thompson's success. He became the club's youngest champion when he won the club championship at his first attempt as a 19-year-old in 1976.

He could have gone on to turn professional but opted instead to continue his studies and pursue a career in the media. He now works as a sponsorship manager for Carlton Television and lives in Teddington.

The Oxfordshire course, which he became a champion on last week, is one of the toughest in the country. A third of all it's holes have water hazards as many of the professional's discovered to their cost when the real tournament got going.

But when the more serious business of the £125,000 first prize Open got underway Irishman Darren Clarke took his chance with both hands.

He finished on a total of 273, 15 under par, to win the title ahead of Santiago Luna of Spain and Denmark's Thomas Bjorn.

The relief Clarke felt at winning his first Benson and Hedges was echoed by by the relief felt by the groundsmen at The Oxfordshire.

There had been fears in the build up to the competition that April's record rainfall might put the tournament in jeopardy. But the competition was played out in brilliant sunshine, in contrast to the rain and gales that had plagued the club for the past two Opens.

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