Standard Life Leven Gold Medal last-round fireworks

McLEAN’S EIGHT-BIRDIE BLITZ GIVES

HIM FIRST FOUR-ROUND VICTORY

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Peterhead’s Philip McLean produced a stunning last round of eight-under-par 63, one shot outside the course record, to win the oldest amateur stroke-play golf championship in the world, the Standard Life Leven Amateur Golf Medal.
McLean, a 22-year-old former Scotland youth cap, has been gaining valuable tournament experience over the past year or so and got close winning his first ever 72 hole event over the same Leven Links in April when he was beaten by Glenn Campbell at the second hole of a play-off after they had tied in the Scottish champion of champions’ tournament.
This time McLean broke his duck with a winning surge over the last 18 holes.
The first three rounds had seen three different players in the lead. Walker Cup reserve Paul O’Hara (Colville Park) made the first-round pace with a 67. Banchory’s James Byrne added a 66 to his opening 68 to be the halfway leader on 134.
Then Campbell, the 2005 Scottish champion at Southerness, came storming home in six-under-par 31 for a 66, that suddenly lifted him four shots clear of the field on 202.
That seemed to have put Campbell in the driving seat with 18 holes to play, four ahead of O’Hara and Byrne with McLean and Gordon Stevenson (Whitecraigs) joint fourth on 207.
But Campbell could do no better than a 70 in the final round for 272 and it was McLean who made the most of the now receptive greens, softened up by afternoon rain. Like a young man inspired, Philip made up nine shots on the Murrayshall greenkeeper to score his first Order of Merit tournament win with a fine aggregate of 14-under-par 270.
McLean’s bogey-free 63 scorecard read:
OUT: 4 3 4 4 3 5 2 4 2 – 31 (three under par)
IN: 3 3 4 5 3 2 4 4 4 – 32 (five under par).
He had birdies at the second, seventh, ninth, 10th, 11th, 12th, 14th and 15th. A birdie at any of the last three holes would have equalled the course record but it was not to be. Wisely, McLean did not go for broke over the closing holes, knowing that he had almost certainly done enough to gain the coveted Leven Gold Medal.
Craigielaw’s Mark Hillson, the only Scot to reach the last eight of the British amateur championship, matched McLean’s red-hot scoring with a 63 which carried him from joint eighth with a round to go to finish a shot behind the winner of 271.
Hillson sank a raker of a putt across the 18th green to finish with a birdie and pip Campell (272) for second place.
Byrne finished fourth on 274 and Kris Nicoll from Fraserburgh made it two “Buchan boys” in the top five with a closing 67 for 275. And there was a third young Northerner in Nairn’s Fraser Fotheringham, joint sixth with Ross Kellett (Colville Park) on 276.


STANDARD LIFE LEVEN GOLD MEDAL
Leven Golfing Society.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 284 CSS 72 72 72 71
270 Philip McLean (Peterhead) 69 68 70 63.
271 Mark Hillson (Craigielaw) 71 65 72 73.
272 Glenn Campbell (Blairgowrie) 68 68 66 70.
274 James Byrne (Banchory) 68 66 72 68.
275 Kris Nicol (Fraserburgh) 71 68 69 67.
276 Ross Kellett (Colville Park) 70 71 67 68, Fraser Fotheringham (Nairn) 69 71 68 68.
277 Paul O’Hara (Colville Park) 67 71 68 71.
278 James White (Lundin) 82 82 67 67, Paul Betty (Hayston) 72 70 68 68, Gordon Stevenson (Whitecraigs) 71 68 68 71.
280 Adam Dunton (McDonald Ellon) 73 69 69 69, Greg Paterson (St Andrews New) 72 68 70 70.
281 Brian Souotar (Leven GS) 73 69 70 69, James Ross (Royal Burgess) 75 71 65 70.
282 Peter Latimer (St Andrews New) 69 73 72 68, Lewis Kirton (Newmachar) 74 72 67 69, Paul Ferrier (Baberton) 68 71 73 70.
283 Keir McNicoll (Carnoustie) 70 72 70 71.
284 Greg Nicholson (Mortonhall) 77 69 68 70, Barry McDermott (Leven GS) 70 75 69 70., Kevin McAlpine (Alyth) 72 72 70 70.
285 Ed Wood (Crow Wood) 69 78 70 68, Martin Brown (Monifieth Links) 69 72 72 72..
286 Myles Cunningham (Craigielaw) 74 71 73 68

287 Nick Barr (CraigieHill) 75 70 74 68, Grant McNab (Lundin) 74 70 75 68, Alexander Culverwell (Dunbar) 73 74 71 69,Aaron Sweeney (Carnoustie) 71 77 68 71, Allyn Dick (Kingsknowe) 73 71 71 72.
288 Richard Graham (Hayston) 74 70 76 68, Brian Erskine (Ladybank) 74 71 72 71.
289 Kristofer Harper (Carnoustie) 75 73 70 71, Gordon Yates (Hilton Park) 73 72 72 72, Alex Main (Thornton) 71 74 71 73.
290 Scott Borrowman (Dollar) 75 71 75 69, Graham Robertson (Silverknowes) 73 72 74 71.
291 Gary Tough (Letham Grange) 75 73 71 72.
292 Jimmy White (Leven Thistle) 71 77 72 72.
294 Bobby Rushford (Grangemouth) 72 76 71 75.
296 Darren Gould (Ldybank) 75 73 75 73.