42nd Scottish open amateur stroke-play championship contender

World ranking boost for Borrowman

on eve of title bid at Murcar Links

Palmer Cup player Scott Borrowman, winner of the 2007 Scottish youths championship, should be full of confidence as he tees off his bid on Friday to add another national title to his golfing CV - the Scottish men's open amateur stroke-play championship at Murcar Links.
Joint fifth place in the Welsh open amateur championship at Ashburnham at the weekend has seen the "value" of the Dollar man, pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency, rise from 442 to 361 in this week's R&A World Amateur Golf Rankings.
That surge of 81 places is the biggest by any Scot in the top 500. The updated rankings also underline the magnitude of the task facing the Scots if they are to maintain their shut-out of "foreign invaders" - Scott Henry (2006), Kevin McAlpine (2007) and Wallace Booth (2008) have been the most recent winners of their national amateur stroke-play title.
The star-studded field at Murcar Links includes world ranked No 10 Sam Hutsby (Liphook), No 15 Matt Jager (Australia) and No 27 Adrian Ford (South Africa).
Scotland's top man in the WAGR continues to be recent Irish open amateur title winner Gavin Dear (Murrayshall) in 28th place, ahead of defending champion Wallace Booth (Comrie) in 47th.
The only other Scot in the hot 100 is Ross Kellett (Caprington) who improved from 92nd to 85th place this week.
Another Scot to make a big leap in the rankings is Paul Lawrie protege Philip McLean (Peterhead) who knows the Murcar Links well from North-east Alliance competitions. Joint 24th in the Welsh stroke-play on Sunday, Philip has shot up 35 places to No 410.
WORLD TOP TEN AMATEURS
(+ or - indicates comparison with last week's ranking)
1 Morgan Hoffman (US) 1196.83 (+1).
2 Rickie Fowler (US) 1182.89 (+1).
3 Nick Taylor (Can) 1169.55 (+1).
4 Nicol Van Wyk (SAf) 1168.75 (+2)
5 Stephan Gross (Ger) 1155.38 (+2).
6 Jorge Campillo (Spa) 1137.33 (+2).
7 Matt Hill (Can) 1122.41 (+2).
8 Billy Horschel (US) 1116.98 (+2).
9 Mike Van Sickle (US) 1114.52 (+3).
10 Sam Hutsby (Eng) 1095.00 (+2).
Scots' rankings in top 1,200:
28 Gavin Dear 970.67 (+1)
47 Wallace Booth 927.27 (+2).
85 Ross Kellett 866.67 (+7).
130 Steven McEwan 810.00 (-29).
171 Michael Stewart 778.69 (-1).
244 Glenn Campbell 724.53 (+3).
292 Keir McNicoll 698.57 (+3).
300 Mark Hillson 690.00 (+2).
312 Paul O'Hara 685.00 (+2).
326 James Byrne 676.27 (+1).
361 Scott Borrowman 655.00 (+81).
362 James White 654.10 (+4).
394 Craig Watson 637.50 (-5).
400 Lewis Kirton 635.00 (-9).
410 Philip McLean 628.75 (+35).
417 Gordon Yates 626.25 (-7).
427 David Law 614.29 (-10).
573 Greg Paterson 547.37 (-34)
620 Stephen Speirs 525.00 (-2).
639 Scott Crichton 515.91 (-2)
672 Kris Nicol 500.00 (-44).
676 Matthew Clark 497.50 (-8).
685 David Addison 492.50 (-7)
690 Mark Lamb 489.58 (-5)
706 Jordan Findlay 482.09 (-47)
777 Bryan Fotheringham 455.00 (-14).
780 Neil Henderson 450.00 (+61).
809 Frazer Fotheringham 439.22 (-32).
935 Allyn Dick 390.00 (-9).
962 Alexander Culverwell 377.50 (-164)
1021 Mark Bookless 355.00 (+173).
1033 Bobby Rushford 350.00 (-23).
1136 Fraser McKenna 312.50 (-28).
1191 Gordon Stevenson 292.50 (-18).