There can be few ways finer to seal a second European Challenge Tour title than with an albatross, as home soil hero Nacho Elvira carded that rarest of birds en route to a four stroke victory over Ricardo Gouveia and Ruaidhri McGee at the Challenge de Madrid.

Stood 202 metres from the pin at El Encin Golf Hotel’s par five fourth hole, Elvira took dead aim with a five iron and it could not have worked out any better, finding the bottom of the cup and helping to propel him to an impressive 21 under par total and a crowd-pleasing triumph in his nation’s capital.

Elvira did not drop a shot all week across the first 11 holes, and alongside his albatross on the final day, he also carded four birdies. That run put him 21 under for the week over that stretch, and despite a couple of dropped shots coming in, he signed for a closing 67.

As a result of this latest triumph, the Spaniard jumps to second spot on the Road to Oman Rankings, as he looks to replicate the form that saw him win a maiden title at the 2013 Foshan Open en route to 14th place on the season-long list that year.

“It has been a wonderful week and a wonderful day, I could not ask for anything better,” said the 28 year old Madrid native, who finished 121st at the end of his maiden Race to Dubai campaign last season.

“A lot of people asked me how I would approach today, but I didn’t actually change anything. Everything seemed to be working, and I was on the range beforehand with my two coaches and we said that I just needed to stay calm and try to enjoy it. I have been practicing more often here, of late, and I had a game plan and tried to stick with it.

“That albatross was unbelievable. It is the first of my career, the first I have ever made, and it is amazing that it happened today. You could say there was a little bit of luck in there, but there were still plenty of holes to play, and I tried to stick to my game plan and focus on my game.

“It is funny, as I had 202 metres to the flag and it was blowing a little downwind, and I said to my caddy that it was a five iron, and the previous two holes I had not had the same distance, but I had used the same club and hit pretty good shots. I thought it was the club again, and when it came out it looked pretty good, but I never expected what happened.

“My family and friends don’t get to come and watch me too often as we are often playing outside of Spain, and having them here with my girlfriend supporting me was great.

“I am going to play as much as I can on The European Tour this season, but I think I am going to play Turkey now on the Challenge Tour rather than Mauritius, and after that I will play the Spanish Open, before I sit down with my coaches and see what we do from there.”

There was very little the chasing pack could do in Madrid as Elvira pulled clear, but for much of the final day McGee was his closest challenger, having started himself with an eagle three at the first.

The Irishman could never quite do enough to catch the marauding Spaniard out front however, but a birdie at the last saw him sign for a closing 71 – despite a double bogey at the par three 16th – and a tie for second place alongside Portugal’s Gouveia, who himself picked a shot up at the last for a round of 69.

That should all but secure McGee a full Challenge Tour card for the rest of the season, having started the year on a medical extension, while for Gouveia it marks a continuation of the form that saw him enter this campaign as one of the favourites for graduation.

England’s Chris Hanson also took advantage of the blustery conditions on the final day to card a 65 and finish a further shot adrift in fourth spot at 16 under. That matched the round of the day carded by compatriot Sam Walker on Saturday as he moved into a share of fifth alongside Welshman Stuart Manley, who signed for a 66.

Final scores:

267 N Elvira  (Esp) 66 68 66 67,
271 R Gouveia (Por) 66 68 68 69, R McGee (Irl) 65 67 68 71,
272 C Hanson (Eng) 68 70 69 65,
273 S Walker (Eng) 70 68 70 65, S Manley (Wal) 70 68 69 66,
275 P Maddy (Eng) 68 71 67 69, P Oriol (Esp) 69 69 67 70,
276 A Garcia-Heredia (Esp) 64 73 68 71, S Soderberg (Swe) 67 66 70 73, B Virto Astudillo (Esp) 71 65 71 69, R Kellett (Sco) 67 70 71 68,
277 A Tadini (Ita) 70 68 66 73, J Walters (RSA) 72 70 66 69, B Evans  (Eng) 73 67 68 69, N Ravano (Ita) 66 75 69 67, E Saltman  (Sco) 70 66 72 69, B Stone (RSA) 69 67 70 71, A Saddier (Fra) 70 69 71 67,
278 A McArthur  (Sco) 67 72 68 71, J Lara (Esp) 68 73 68 69, S Gros (Fra) 65 70 69 74, V Riu  (Fra) 71 70 67 70, M Trappel  (Aut) 68 69 72 69, J McLeary  (Sco) 70 71 70 67, P Martin Benavides (Esp) 69 71 69 69,
279 J Sarasti  (Esp) 66 66 74 73, D Foos (Ger) 67 68 71 73, J Senior (Eng) 70 69 71 69, F Calmels  (Fra) 71 70 65 73, J Dantorp (Swe) 71 71 70 67,
280 S Thornton (Irl) 74 67 67 72, C Berardo (Fra) 70 70 68 72, M Lafeber (Ned) 73 68 69 70, S Fallon (Eng) 69 69 72 70, M Wiegele  (Aut) 74 68 69 69,
281 C Gloet  (Den) 70 68 71 72, P Lawrie (Irl) 68 70 71 72, A Hortal  (Esp) 73 69 67 72, T Sluiter  (Ned) 71 71 69 70,
282 C Aguilar  (Esp) 69 72 68 73, D Gaunt (Eng) 70 69 74 69, J Lima  (Por) 73 67 67 75, G Porteous (Eng) 69 72 70 71, C Paisley  (Eng) 70 71 67 74, J Garcia Del Moral (Esp) 70 70 72 70, L Nemecz (Aut) 73 67 70 72, B Stow (Eng) 71 71 68 72,
283 E Cuartero Blanco  (Esp) 67 75 69 72, M Jonzon (Swe) 65 73 72 73, G Murray  (Sco) 70 67 75 71, P Figueiredo  (Por) 69 67 73 74, S Tiley (Eng) 69 70 74 70, M Delpodio  (Ita) 70 72 69 72,
284 R Kakko  (Fin) 68 72 72 72, E Larrañaga (Esp) 75 67 71 71, P Whiteford (Sco) 71 70 66 77, J Stalter (Fra) 73 69 70 72,
285 J Huldahl (Den) 75 67 73 70, J Gonnet  (Fra) 72 69 68 76, G Maybin (Nir) 71 71 70 73,
286 J Fahrbring (Swe) 68 70 74 74, W Booth  (Sco) 73 69 71 73,
287 J Gallegos  (Esp) 71 71 71 74, A Gee  (Eng) 69 73 71 74,
289 N Kimsey (Eng) 70 72 76 71, P Archer (Eng) 72 70 71 76,
290 L Gagli  (Ita) 71 71 72 76,
291 H Satama (Fin) 70 72 75 74,
292 W Harrold (Eng) 68 74 76 74,
** J Glennemo (Swe) 67 69 73 DQ,