LEATHERHEAD duo Phil and Ben Taylor have successfully defended their Father and Son Golf Champions of Europe crown.

The father and son pair saw off stiff competition at the new Greg Norman golf resort of Portaventura near Barcelona in Spain to retain their title.

Phil, 50 and Ben, 17 played some magnificent golf over the three days to post an incredible 20 under par gross in a two ball, better ball format, winning the event by a massive nine strokes over their nearest rivals the Holts from Dinckley in Blackburn.

Phil, who stopped playing full-time golf way back in 1989 to start his golf driving range business at Pachesham Park Golf Centre, only plays about 20 rounds a year and claimed the victory was one of his finest achievements.

He said: "We are chuffed to win! I am so proud of Ben, he played magnificently, especially on the last day. He shot seven under, closing the back nine holes with only 30 strokes.

"I did not play badly but I only came onto the card three times on the last day because Ben was having so many birdies. Going into the final day we only had a one stoke advantage and all day I did not want to know any scores, I was just relying on the fact that if we kept making birdies then we would be hard to beat.

"Coming down the last hole my hands were shaking and my teeth chattering. I had an 80-yard pitch shot over a lake in front of the Sky Sports cameras with a big crowd watching us and all I wanted to do was get my ball safely on to the green without duffing it into the water, which I managed to do.

"Ben hit a great approach shot under severe pressure to 15 feet under the hole and then holed it for a birdie three.

"The tournament director Toby Marsden told us we had won and I felt a huge sense of relief and pride in what we had achieved."

Ben has recently been selected for the England under-18 national squad and is waiting to hear if he has been successful in gaining a golf scholarship in the USA.

Wearing matching yellow shirts on the final day's play in memory of Phil's brother, the pair have been invited to compete in the Australian Father and Son Championship next month.

The Spain event will be on Sky Sports 3 at 8pm on Monday, November 16.