If Danny Lee is at all inclined to think his future is certain to be paved with gold after becoming only the second amateur ever to win on the European Tour, he should think again.
As a way of keeping his feet on the ground the 18-year-old New Zealander should look at what has happened to the first. If he can bear to, that is.
Two years on from his historic Portuguese Open victory 22-year-old Spaniard Pablo Martin is fighting for his future. And at the moment it is a battle he is losing so badly a boxing referee might stop the contest.
Without a sub-70 round since last October, outside the world's top 650 and not even figuring on the Tour's 'Race To Dubai' money list because he has yet to earn his first Euro this season, Martin is a million miles away from where everybody expected him to be by now.
Crashing out of the Indonesian Open at halfway last week made it eight missed cuts in a row.
And this after a run in Europe last summer when he had nine in succession.
The details are almost too gruesome to mention. While Robert Karlsson was 113 under par in winning the 2008 Order of Merit, Martin was 175 over par in finishing 182nd.
Not a single player among the 369 whose names appeared on the final list was as bad as that and his stroke average of 74.45 was the worst amongst the top 250.
The two-year exemption Martin earned for his win at Oitavos meant the Malaga youngster had another season to try to put it right.
But if he is outside the top 115 come this November then his only way to keep a Tour card will be at the qualifying school.
Yet here, it seemed, was the new sensation of Spanish golf when he became the first amateur in 1,145 Tour events to take home the trophy.
Seve Ballesteros, Jose Maria Olazabal and Sergio Garcia may all have been boy wonders, but none of them could do what Martin did - and nor could Tiger Woods.
It did not come totally out of the blue either. Three years earlier at the Spanish Open, as a 17-year-old schoolboy studying for exams at the time, he became the first amateur to lead on Tour after 54 holes.
He then went on to be not just a star, but the star of the American college circuit while at Oklahoma State University and it was on a trip home from there that the chance to play in Portugal came and he grabbed it with both hands.
A back nine 29 in the third round brought him into contention and a flawless closing 68 gave him a one-stroke victory over Raphael Jacquelin.
The Frenchman had chipped in at the last to put the pressure on, but on the hole where Barry Lane had blown the event two years earlier with a quintuple bogey nine Martin made a rock-solid par four.
Because of his status he could not take any of the Ј180,000 first prize. It did not seem to matter at the time because on turning professional two months later he joined the same management company as Woods and also signed a multi-year agreement with Nike Golf for clubs, ball, footwear, glove, bag, clothes, headwear and accessories.
Kel Devlin, the company's global sports marketing director, said: "He's a gifted athlete, a terrific individual and we are confident he will be incredibly successful on the professional Tours."
Martin himself commented: "Signing with a global brand such as Nike Golf right at the start of my career is as big a deal as it gets.
"The equipment they are producing has a technological edge that will help develop my game further and they really listen to my ideas and put them into practice."
Things began well. He qualified for the US Open and, paired with Garcia and Olazabal in the first two rounds, beat them both in finishing 30th.
But then came six successive missed cuts, the first two in America and the next four in Europe, and last year started with five more in a row.
Returning to Oitavos brought back great memories and an opening course record 63 showed he was still capable of great golf.
It proved a false dawn, though. He slipped back to 15th place - still his best finish as a professional - and after matching it at the following week's Spanish Open the nightmare run of scores began.
Since the first week of May last year Martin has earned less than Ј7,000 and made only two cuts.
It might look bleak and it is, but he should remember that Justin Rose missed 21 successive cuts at the start of his pro career and yet has gone on to become European number one and world number six.
Martin must hope he can turn it round - and Lee, the youngest winner in European Tour history, must be aware that for all his success so far nothing about his future is guaranteed yet.
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