MADEIRA, Portugal, May 13, 2012 (AFP) - The 29-year-old carded a superb nine under final round 63 to finish the tournament on 22 under par, a record low for the event.
"To win my first European Tour event in my own country is very special. The putt on the 17th was unbelievable, and I knew then that victory was mine," said the champion.
"It was a sensational round -- definitely the best of my career. It was amazing to have the crowds here supporting me. It would be difficult to imagine a better win than this.
"I didn't have many bad moments in the round, but the supporters were always there to pick me up and keep me going. This is a huge moment in my career.
"I just played very solidly all the way round. I kept hitting fairways and greens and trying to hole putts, and luckily my putting was incredible today."
Overnight leader Carlos Del Moral started the day three shots ahead, but his challenge faltered with a triple bogey seven at the ninth and ultimately the Spaniard signed for a 73 to finish tied for fourth.
Sweden's Magnus Carlsson finished second on 18 under par with Denmark's Andreas Harto in third place, a shot further back.
Leading scores from EPGA Madeira Islands Open after the final round on Sunday (GBR/IRL unless stated; par-72):
266 - Ricardo Santos (POR) 68-67-68-63
270 - Magnus A Carlsson (SWE) 66-66-71-67
271 - Andreas Harto (DEN) 67-71-66-67
272 - Carlos Del Moral (ESP) 69-67-63-73, Mikael Lundberg (SWE) 69-70-64-69, John Parry 71-70-65-66, Oliver Wilson 66-65-72-69, Joakim Lagergren (SWE) 66-66-70-70
273 - David Dixon 68-68-70-67, Alastair Forsyth 69-68-70-66
275 - Sihwan Kim (Nor) 68-66-70-71, Gary Orr 69-69-68-69, Hans Peter Bacher (AUT) 67-69-71-68, Julien Guerrier (FRA) 70-69-68-68, Morten Orum Madsen (DEN) 66-69-74-66