MEON Valley’s Harry Ellis has become the youngest player to complete the British and English Amateur double (writes Andrew Griffin).

Aged just 21, he produced one of the greatest comebacks the R&A Championship has seen to lift the British title at Royal St George’s on Saturday.

The Florida State University student, who broke Nick Faldo’s record by two years when winning the English Amateur at Silloth-on-Solway in 2012, when he was 16, came from four down with five to play to beat Australia’s Dylan Perry at the second extra hole.

Both players came within inches of going out of bounds over the closing five holes, but Ellis kept ramping up the pressure on his 22-year-old opponent who was only ranked No 4 in the New South Wales team.

Ellis has a laser-like long game and holed some clutch putts, including a 12-footer at the 37th hole, to keep his dream alive.

He joins Sir Michael Bonallack, who won both titles five times in his illustrious amateur career and completed the double at the age of 27 by winning the English Amateur at Moortown in 1962.

Michael Lunt, who died while in office as the R&A captain in 2007, is the only other player to do the double, winning the English at Royal Lytham in 1966, aged 31.

Coincidentally, Ellis and fellow Hampshire player Scott Gregory, who was unable to defend the title he won at Royal Porthcawl a year ago, are both in action this week at the European Amateur Championship at Walton Heath, where Lunt was a long-standing member.

The winner gets an invitation to join Ellis at next month’s Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.

Ellis can also expect the traditional invitation to follow in Gregory’s footsteps to play in the 2018 Masters, provided he remains an amateur until next April.

With Ellis’s success, Hampshire became the first county to provide different champions back-to-back in 122 years.