Jonathan Bell emerged victorious yesterday after a scintillating final round of the Faldo Series Grand Final in the Olympic city of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.

Watched by Nick Faldo, who was closely following the close of his 13th Grand Final, the 18-year-old from London led from the first round. He contended well with hot, humid conditions yesterday to card a one over par score of 73, enough to claim outright first place.

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Dan Wasteney continued his good form lying -1 going down the 18th in Round 2 of the Nick Faldo Series Grand Final.

One loose shot then hit a tree, with the recovery finishing in the water meant Dan ended up with a disastrous 9. Prior to this Dan missed out challenging the lead and lipped for 5 birdies.

Dan seems to have taken the setback in his stride and promises to be back with vengeance in the final round tomorrow.

Jonathan Bell and James Watts share the joint lead in the Faldo Series Grand Final following the second round of the tournament which is being held at the Itanhanga Golf Club in the Olympic city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

England’s Watts shot a stunning eight under par round of 64, which included six birdies and an eagle at the par five fifth. His efforts drew him level with overnight leader Bell, who shot a three under par 69 today. Both Watts and Bell lead the Boys Under 21 and Boys Under 18 categories respectively. Scotland’s Carly Booth is the leading girl with a three over par two-round total of 147.

Nick Faldo is set to welcome 70 young golfers, including Bondhay’s Daniel Wasteney, from 11 different countries to the iconic city of Rio de Janeiro, recently announced as the venue for the 2016 Olympic Games.

Supported by The R&A, the European Tour, Golf Corporate Brazil, the Secretary of State for Sport and Tourism of Rio de Janeiro and the Rio 2016 bid, the 54-hole R&A World Amateur Golf Ranking tournament will take place on 28-30 October at Rio’s Itanhanga Golf Club.

Faldo commented: “I congratulate Rio on its successful 2016 Olympic bid and I’m excited that we will be returning to Brazil this month for another Faldo Series Grand Final. We’ve seen for some time the potential in the region for development through sport and the timing could not be better for us to be bringing together golfers from around the world to a city that is right at the forefront of the world’s sporting agenda.

“I also strongly support the inclusion of golf in the 2016 Games and believe that being an Olympic sport can help make golf significantly more accessible, especially for future generations. In some small way that is what I am trying to achieve through the Faldo Series, both in South America and around the world.”

The 13th Grand Final will see young golfers from the UK, Ireland, Russia, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay compete to be crowned Faldo Series champion and follow in the footsteps of former winners Nick Dougherty, Rory McIlroy and Oliver Fisher. Five winners will be invited to the Faldo Series Asia Grand Final in China and the overall boy and girl champion will receive a start in a European Tour and Ladies European Tour event respectively.