Pilkington lost his European Tour card back in 2003

Pilkington, 28, won the richest first prize in the Challenge Tour's history on Sunday by winning the Kazakhstan Open by two strokes.

The victory elevates Pilkington to second place in the Tour rankings, and guarantees him a place on the main tour as one of the top 20 ranked players.

"It feels fantastic to get my first win as a pro," said 28-year-old Pilkington.

"It's very satisfying because this is probably the best field we have had on the Challenge Tour all season.

"All the best players this season were here and we played on a tough golf course that you really had to think your way around, so it feels great."

Fellow Welshman Kyron Sullivan had already assured his place in the top 20, and he moved up to third in the rankings with a seventh place in Kazakhstan.

Pilkington, from Morfa Nefyn in north Wales, has been trying to return to the European Tour since losing his card in 2003.

He led from start to finish at the Nurtau Golf Club to pick up the winner's cheque for �32,500, carding a final round of three under par 69 to win by two strokes from England's Shaun Webster.

Despite all the eagles and birdies Pilkington racked up in is 16 under par total, his best shot of the week was arguably on the final hole.

Having played his approach shot into the greenside bunker, Pilkington conjured a marvellous recovery, floating his ball to the hole and spinning it back to eight inches to leave himself a simple of tap-in for victory.

"Under the circumstances I think that's probably the best bunker shot that I have ever played," he said.

"I have been a professional for eight years now, and this is why you put in the hours of practice - to get into a position to win."

Pilkington has two more events this season to try to overtake order of merit leader Sweden's Johan Axgren.