MAYBE it was the weather reminding him of home that inspired Alvaro Quiros to win Manchester's biggest professional tournament at Costa del Marriott Worsley Park.

But one thing is certain, life will never be quite the same again for the 23-year-old Spaniard as he claimed his maiden tour victory.

"This changes everything for me," he said after his sizzling final round of six-under-par 64 left the rest in the shade in the é100,000 Morson International Pro-am Challenge run in association with the M.E.N.

Until last week Quiros was restricted to a handful of starts on the European Challenge Tour because of his low ranking.

"I had been relying on invitations but I do not have to wait any more," he said as he posted a 13-under-par total to beat Mark Pilkington, who led the first three rounds, by three shots.

And today he was already contemplating life on the main circuit as he moved up to seventh in the order of merit from which the top 20 at the end of the season will be handed a full card.

Hopefully, Pilkington will be in the queue for one.

The 27-year-old Welshman, three strokes ahead going into the final day, had to settle for second place as he did the week before in the Moroccan Classic.

Luck

Quiros, coached by three-time European Tour winner Jose Rivero, admitted: "At the start of the round I thought that there was too far to go to win, mostly because the guy in front of me was Mark, who is a great player.

"I did not really think about winning, just about playing well, which I had for most of the week.

"Then, on the 10th, I noticed that I was ahead by one. But after that I also had the bit of luck, making a good up and down for par on the 15th which that kept it going for me."

Mobberley pro Jon Cheetham was the pick of the local bunch, closing with 70 for two-under-par and a share of 38th place with Didsbury assistant David McKinnon a shot back.

Amateur winner was Surrey's Oliver Lewis with an impressive 15-under-par for two rounds.

IT was rough justice for Matthew Nixon as he lost his debut match for Lancashire against Northumberland at Whitley Bay.

The 16-year-old from Ashton-under-Lyne was fast-tracked into the side after finishing runner-up in the county championship at Clitheroe.

But he was beaten in the decisive game after his drive on the final hole rolled off the fairway into semi-rough, the ball sitting down so deep that he could only trundle it some 70 yards.

That cost him the chance of not only squaring his tie against Ross Crowe, to whom he had been three down after 11, but Lancashire the half they needed to stop Northumberland leapfrogging to the top of the Northern League.

Earlier, captain Bob Bardsley's battlers had clawed back into contention after losing three of the top four singles, thanks to young guns Sam Stuart, 18, and 15-year-old Tommy Fleetwood who maintained their 100 per cent winning records this season.

Cheshire hit the bottom of the table after going down 10-8 to defending champions Yorkshire at Caldy.

Two points adrift from the foursomes, they hit back to take four of the first five singles after Steve Capper had lost on the final green to fellow international Simon Bell.

England Under-21 player Ian Winstanley, from Warrington, set them on their way by eclipsing Steve Uzzell two and one and there were wins for newly-crowned county matchplay champion Iain Davies, from Hazel Grove, Ashton-on-Mersey's Kevin Kean and Astbury's Andy Hardie.