London, England: Peter Uihlein triumphed in the US$2 million International Series England to register his maiden victory on the Asian Tour, and The International Series, after impressively pulling away from a packed leaderboard.

The American stole the show on the Longcross Course at Foxhills Club & Resort, carding a scorching bogey-free eight-under-par 63, for a four-round total of 20-under, and a seven-shot victory from Andy Sullivan and Caleb Surratt. England’s Sullivan shot a 66 while American Surratt closed with a 68.

China’s Sampson Zheng (66), Thai Sadom Kaewkanjana (67) and American Harold Varner III (70) tied for fourth, one stroke further back.

Uihlein, aged 34, smashed the course record with a 61 to take the lead at the half-way mark and began the final round with a one-shot advantage over Varner.

By the turn, Uihlein had a one-shot lead over Surratt, playing in the group ahead. Uihlein then proceeded to eagle the par-four 10th to move three ahead, putting some daylight between him and the chasing pack. A birdie on 12 saw him maintain his three-shot lead after Surratt had birdied the same hole.

Uihlein then survived a couple of shaky moments, holing a crucial par putt from seven feet on the par-four 13th. On the par-five 15th he found the trees on the right with his tee shot but played a miraculous recovery shot. He hit his third to 12 feet and just missed his birdie putt.

On the treacherous par-three 16th, where a tough pin position on the right brought a greenside lake dangerously into play, he holed a 15-footer for birdie to virtually wrap up the title. The look of relief on his face was obvious as his ball would have rushed past the cup if it had not dropped.

It meant he had a four-shot lead from Surratt, which became five when Surratt made bogey on 17. It was then six when Uihlein holed a 12-footer for birdie on 17, and a magnificent seven when he birdied the par-five 18th.

“Bit of a dream, really,” said Uihlein, who plays for RangeGoats GC on LIV Golf.

“I was two-over-par through eight holes on the first day. I tripled 17, and it was a bit of a grind. Then the next day I just kind of blitzed it, and yesterday kind of survived. Today I had some things going my way, no doubt about it. It was one of those days where things were going my way, and I took advantage of it.”

This is only Uihlein’s fourth win since turning professional in 2013. He has won once before on the DP World Tour, and twice on the Korn Ferry Tour while on the LIV Golf League he has come close to winning on multiple occasions, finishing second four times.

He earned a cheque for US$360,000 and moves into third on The International Series Rankings, which is still being led by American John Catlin.

The golf course, located in Surrey, played a big part in his success. He added: “I loved it. You were allowed to try different things. You could play it different ways. I was very aggressive and tried to drive to a lot of greens … and it paid off.

“There are other ways guys probably played it, but I liked the strategy we had. I like the gameplan we were doing, and I had fun doing it.”