Norfolk's Andrew Marshall enjoyed a confidence-boosting victory to successfully defend his Bahrain Open title ahead of his next foray on the European Tour.

Marshall, 38, cruised to an eight-shot victory, in what were challenging desert conditions, for what was is his fourth victory in the competition in five starts.

The Dereham professional finished with a five over total of 145 after a 72 on day one and a 73 on a very windy second day which saw the scoring rocket.

He said: 'I'm really pleased to have been able to defend my title again. It's my fourth win in five starts and next year's event is the 50th Open so promises to be a big week. It was very windy on both days with the wind strongest on day two, blowing the ball off the tee on a few occasions.

'I had a birdie two on the fourth and a birdie three on 10 before letting the round slip and making two doubles on 15 and 17 but ended with a biride on the last hole.

'My game is in good shape although my putting needs some work.'

Marshall, who was ninth reserve for the European Tour's Open de Andaluc�a in Spain this week, will next tee it up in competition in Morocco the following week courtesy of an invite and then again in Sicily the week after.