Essaouira, Morocco – February 23, 2012 – American golfer Tim O’Neal, one of four eGolf Tour members competing overseas and serving as ambassadors to the country of Morocco, collected his second Atlas Pro Tour/EPD Tour win in two weeks with rounds of carded rounds of 70-76-73—219 (3-over) to win the Mogador Open by two shots over France’s Jerome Lando-Casanova.

As part of the eGolf Tour's ongoing relationship with the Association du Trophee Hassan II de Golf (ATH) and the country of Morocco, a few select members of the 2012 eGolf Professional Tour will be serving as ambassadors to the North African country, competing in select events on the Atlas Pro Tour (Alps Tour/EPD Tour) in order to create awareness for Morocco as a world-class golf destination. O'Neal (Savannah, GA), Tommy Schaff (Savannah, GA), Jhared Hack (Sanford, FL) and Chris Condello (Heathrow, FL) are four of the ambassadors selected, and arrived in Morocco three weeks ago to begin a nearly three-month stretch in which they will compete in eight Atlas Pro Tour events.

O’Neal, a former Nationwide Tour member with 129 career starts on the Nationwide Tour, entered the final round in a tie for fourth place after rounds of 70-76 over a wind-blown Mogador Golf Club left the former Jackson State golfer three shots behind leader Nuno Henriques of Portugal. Playing in the penultimate threesome in Wednesday’s final round, O’Neal’s pre-round thoughts were simple and to the point.

“You just don’t want to go out there and do anything stupid. With winds like this, a lot of things can happen,” said O’Neal, 38.

O’Neal’s final round began in roller coaster fashion amidst steady 20 mph winds, with a bogey-eagle-bogey-birdie start to push the Savannah native to 1-under on his round and 1-over for the tournament. His hectic opening four-hole stretch gave way to pars on Nos. 5 through 7, but O’Neal gave back strokes on Nos. 8 and 9 with back-to-back bogeys to turn at 1-over 37. At 3-over for the week, O’Neal trailed Henriques and Lando-Casanova, who each turned at 3-over 39 and 2-over 38, respectively, by one shot with nine holes to play.

“The conditions were difficult to the point that, I knew if I could make some pars over the final nine holes and keep the ball in front of me, I might be able to win,” O’Neal said.

A bogey at the par-3 11th dropped O’Neal back to 2-over for the round, but he made up for it one hole later with a key birdie at the par-5 12th to move back to 3-over for the event. That birdie led to a six-hole stretch of pars for O’Neal that coincided with collapses by Henriques and Lando-Casanova.

Henriques, who actually birdied the par-4 10th to take sole possession of the lead with eight holes to play, hit a proverbial wall on the closing nine at the Mogador Resort. A five-hole bogey stretch from Nos. 12 through 16 finally ended with a par at the 17th, but a closing bogey at the par-4 18th left him with a back-nine 41 and a final-round 80 that placed him at T6 on the week.

Likewise, Lando-Casanova collapsed as well amidst the arduous wind and difficult course set-up. Pars on Nos. 10 and 11 masked his struggles on the closing nine, which took form in bogeys at Nos. 12, 13 and 15 to fall to 5-over for the event and two shots behind O’Neal with three holes to play. Needing at least two birdies on 16, 17 or 18 to force a playoff, the Frenchman failed to deliver and was forced to settle for a closing 77 that left him in solo-second place, two shots behind O’Neal, who had now notched two wins in roughly 12 days.

“It feels great to win again,” said O’Neal. “It’s odd to think about winning an event while making so many pars and bogeys, but the conditions really dictated the scoring.”

Indeed, wind gusts of up to 30 mph left competitors searching for answers on an already-difficult Mogador Golf Club course. The seaside location and lack of towering trees to block winds left the golf course vulnerable to the powerful Atlantic Ocean breezes and strong gusts that can pelt the Moroccan coastline.

"They were probably the most difficult playing conditions that I have ever experienced", said O’Neal. "I have never played in such strong winds and I have never won a tournament with a 3-over total. But, I will take it, I can promise you that."

The win was the second in two weeks for O’Neal, who claimed the Palmeraie Open title on the Atlas Pro Tour/Alps Tour on February 11th.

The win at Mogador was worth €5,000 (the equivalent of $6,593), and kept O’Neal at No. 1 on the Atlas Tour’s winter series money list. O’Neal’s three-event earnings on the Atlas Tour are at €10,000 after he missed the cut in his second tour start last week.

Schaff, O’Neal’s longtime traveling partner, was the next lowest American competitor, finishing T13 with rounds of 76-77-72—225. Schaff’s final-round 72 tied the day’s low round.

Hack, a former Western Amateur champion and two-time winner on the eGolf Tour, was the only other ambassador to make the cut, posting rounds of 73-77-78—228 to finish T22.

The next event on the Atlas Pro Tour/EPD Tour, the Al Maaden Classic, will take place on February 26-28 in Marrakech, Morocco. All four ambassadors will be competing in the event, along with players from nearly 30 countries worldwide. To follow the tournament, please visit http://www.pga.de/epd-index-en.html.