fullname open pga usopen chalwins birth_place height award prowins year birth_date yearpro residence masters article_title name tour
mark pilkington dnp dnp dnp 1 bangor , wales 6 0 challenge tour rankings winner 1 2006 17 march 1978 1998 morfa nefyn , wales dnp mark pilkington -lrb- golfer -rrb-
 mark pilkington european tour
mark pilkington -lrb- golfer -rrb-

mark pilkington -lrb- born 17 march 1978 -rrb- is a welsh professional golfer .
pilkington was born in bangor , gwynedd .
he enjoyed a successful amateur career , representing wales at all levels , and highlighted by winning the welsh amateur championship in 1998 .
he turned professional later that year , immediately after winning a place on the european tour at final qualifying school .
pilkington had an unsuccessful rookie season on the european tour in 1999 , and played on the challenge tour the following season after failing to regain his card at qualifying school .
he followed up a consistent challenge tour season with success at qualifying school to return to the top level for 2001 .
he managed to retain his european tour card by finishing inside the top 100 on the order of merit in both 2001 and 2002 , but his form dipped in 2003 and he dropped back down to the second tier for 2004 .
after two largely unsuccessful seasons on the challenge tour , pilkington 's fortunes were revived in 2006 when he produced consistently good performances to finish the season on top of the challenge tour rankings .
after a slow start to the season , he recorded back to back second-place finishes , before rounding off the season with victory in the kazakhstan open and another runners-up prize at the apulia san domenico grand final .
by topping the money list , he had regained his card on the european tour ; but in 2007 he finished in 136th place on the order of merit to again lose his place on the elite tour .
