Aberdeen Quaich goes ahead for men, women and juniors

The Aberdeen Quaich tournament will go ahead with men's, women's and juniors' sections from Friday to Sunday this coming weekend. Draw for Friday tee times will be avialable on Wednesday.
Current entries@
Men 80 (46 places still available).
Women 20 (22 still available).
Juniors 18 (24 still available).

Late entries are available. Call 01224 589209

Stuart Appleby is the Wizard from Oz - 59 to win US  event

Stuart Appleby recorded only the fifth round of 59 in US PGA Tour history to win the Greenbrier Classic by a single stroke at White Sulphur Springs on Sunday.
The Australian made nine birdies and an eagle at the par-five 12th hole as he surged from seven shots off Jeff Overton's overnight lead to seal an astonishing triumph.
Overton three-putted the par-five 17th after reaching the green in two and was then only narrowly off target with a 54-foot putt at the last to come up one stroke short.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 280 (4x70)
258 Stuart Appleby (Australia)  66 68 65 59 258
259 Jeff Overton 64 62 66 67.
263 Brendon de Jonge (S Africa) 65 68 65 65.
265 Woody Austin 67 68 67 63, Paul Stankowski 69 65 67 64, Roger Tambellini 69 66 65 65 265, Jimmy Walker 67 64 67 67, D A Poinits 68 66 61 70.
266 Pat Perez 64 69 69 64, Chris Stroud 69 63 69 65, Troy Matteson 69 65 67 65, Aron Price 65 71 65 65, Jim Furyk 68 65 67 66, Charles Howell III 65 67 67 67, Boo Weekley 67 63 67 69.
267 Matt Bettencourt 65 69 67 66, Brandt Snedeker 68 68 65 66, Marc Leishman (Australia) 68 68 65 66, Scott Piercy 66 67 67 67, J B Holmes 69 69 60 69.
268 John Senden 68 67 68 65, Michael Letzig 72 65 66 65, Ben Crane 66 67 69 66, Richard S Johson (Sweden) 66 67 69 66, Stephen Ames (Trinidad) 68 67 67 66, Dean Wilson 66 70 66 66, John Rollins 65 69 67 67, Brett Wetterich 67 68 66 67, Matt Kuchar 69 69 63 67, Rocco Mediate 70 68 63 67, Briny Baird 67 65 68 68, Bob Estes 66 68 66 68, Spencer Levin 66 67 67 68, Justin Leonard 67 68 65 68, Jonathan Byrd 69 65 64 70, Garrett Willis 71 67 66 65.

A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS FOR KNOX

Inverness exile Russell Knox won $9,780 for a joint third finish earlier today in the Hooters Tour's Michelob Ultra Classic over the Auburn University golf course at Auburn, Alabama.
The Scot, who lives at Jacksonville Beach, Florida, had rounds of 69, 70, 70 and 66 for a total of 13-under-par 275 - four shots behind the winner of the $30,000 first prize, American Michael Thompson with scores of 66, 70, 71 and 64.
Knox has won $52,960 on the Hooters Tour this seaon, making the cut in each of his nine events. This was his third top-five finish and his fifth top-10.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)
Players from US unless stated
271 Michael Thompson 66 70 71 64 ($30,000).
274 Jimmy Brandt 67 69 70 68 ($15,830).
275 Russell Knox (Scotland) 69 70 70 66, Matthew Swan 69 66 69 71 ($9,780 each)

SGU Board will consider championship change at next meeting

Scottish Amateur likely to have

qualifying rounds when Stewart

defends at Western Gailes

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
When Michael Stewart defends the Allied Surveyors Scottish men’s amateur championship in his native Ayrshire next July, it will almost certainly have a new format for the first time since the Scottish Golf Union started its flagship tournament in 1922.
SGU chief executive Hamish Grey explained at Gullane, where Stewart, a 20-year-old +4 player at Troon Welbeck, beat Jordan Findlay (Fraserburgh), 22, by 3 and 2 in the 36-hole final:
“At the next meeting of the SGU board, on the agenda will be a proposed move to start the championship with two qualifying rounds of stroke-play, which would produce the field of 64 for the match-play stages.
“It’s a big change but World Amateur Rankings are becoming more and more important for a number of reasons and stroke-play rounds are required for that. It means of course that future venues for the championship have to have either two courses or two courses within close proximity of each other.
“We’re fortunate that the next five venues already chosen all meet these requirements.”
Next year’s host club is Western Gailes . Glasgow Gailes would be a perfect “partner,” with the field playing one qualifying round at each.”
Royal Dornoch has already been selected to host the “Scottish” in 2012 and Tain or Brora could be the No 2 course brought into use for the qualifying.
SGU president Bert Leslie considers himself a traditionalist and accepts the view that match-play and stroke-play are two completely different forms of competitive golf.
“But we have to go with the flow. The British amateur men's and boys' championships have qualifying rounds, so has the English amateur championship and, whatever my personal feelings, the Scottish Golf Union has to be a forward-looking body – and stroke-play qualifying is the way ahead for our national championship.”
For the top players, like Michael Stewart, a scratch player since he was 15 years old and now possessing a +4 rating, the change will not make the slightest difference. The two “major” titles Michael has won – the 2008 Scottish boys’ championship and now the 2010 Scottish men’s title – both had match-play formats but he is just as talented a player at the card-and-pencil game.
Stewart, the No 3 seed last week, was four under par in beating Jordan Findlay by 3 and 2. He was three under the card for the morning round at the end of which he was three up, and one under par for the 16 holes played in the afternoon.
“I am not going back to East Tennessee State University for another two years,” confirmed Stewart, a confident but likeable young man with a short game as good as Paul Lawrie once had.
“I want to play for Scotland in the world amateur team championship for the Eisenhower Trophy in Argentina later this season and, next year, for Great Britain and Ireland in the Walker Cup match at Royal Aberdeen.
“I want to be close to the people who can help me become as good a player as possible before I turn pro: namely Ian Rae my coach and the Scottish Golf Union.
“So I am a full-time amateur for the next 18 months at the end of which I will be ready to go to the European Tour School , probably as an amateur.”
This week Stewart, still suffering from a mild form of shingles diagnosed on the eve of the Scottish championship, is off to Finland with James Byrne, Ross Kellett (last year’s runner-up), Philip McLean, Kris Nicol and Greg Paterson, courtesy of the SGU, to play in the European men’s individual amateur championship.
Had that squad of six been selected last week, Jordan Findlay would almost certainly been in it but the Fraserburgh 22-year-old’s Bob Torrance-guided major swing changes of two years ago did not really kick in until June. World amateur rankings are the guiding force in team selections these days and Findlay’s current WAGR ranking of No 986 – Michael Stewart is No 145 - does not reflect his current standing in the Scottish amateur game.
Findlay will be in the Scotland team to be named this week for the home internationals at Ashburnham, South Wales from August 11 to 13 but that could be his swansong in amateur golf.
“I am going back to the Tour School qualifying process. I failed to get past Stage 1 at Dundonald last year but I feel I am a better player now than I was 12 months ago. I think my performances at Gullane proved that although I’ve never doubted that I would get back to the level I was when I won the British boys in 2004 and lost in the final the following year,” said Findlay.
“When I won the British boys, I was four down at one stage of that 36-hole final, so I never gave up hope in Saturday’s final when I was four down after 15 holes that I could turn it around.
“I played my best of the week from tee to green in the final. It was my putting that let me down. If I had putted as well as I did to beat James Byrne in Friday’s semi-final, then I would have won the title.”
Findlay, who did not have a bogey from the eighth hole until the 29th, was one under par for the 34 holes of the final.

+What's your view on the distinct possibility that the Scottish Amateur will start with two stroke-play qualifying rounds in future years? E-mail it to Colin@scottishgolfview.com

Tiger to play in Dubai Desert Classic

FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Tiger Woods confirmed he will be returning to the European Tour to compete in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic in February.
Since making the first of five visits to the event nine years ago, the world number one won it in 2006 and 2008 and has finished no worse than fifth. Woods was due to defend his title in 2009, but reconstructive knee surgery the previous June forced him to cancel the trip.
"The level of competition has always been extremely high, so I know I'll have to play my best golf if I'm going to regain my title," said the American. "It's a great venue, the course is always in immaculate condition and the weather reminds me of back home in Florida."
He added: "In the time I have been coming over the skyline keeps changing, keeps evolving and the people keep coming here and thoroughly enjoy it.
"From the time I first came to play here in 2001, I wanted to be a part of this amazing vision."
"We are naturally delighted and proud that Tiger Woods has agreed to join us for the 2011 Omega Dubai Desert Classic," said Mohamed Juma Buamaim, vice-chairman and chief executive officer of golf in Dubai.
"Having the world's greatest golfer play in your event is something many tournament organisers dream of, so for us to be able to welcome him for the sixth time is a major boost for golf in the Middle East, especially Dubai.
"With Tiger, who transcends all races, ages and gender, in the field we are pretty confident that the 2011 Omega Dubai Desert Classic will create a buzz on the global stage, giving a fresh impetus to tourism in the city.
"After all, he's Tiger Woods for a reason."

Warren scorecard blunder costs him £20,000 in disqualification

Fisher holds off Harrington to win Irish Open

FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE
England's Ross Fisher proved himself under pressure to win the 3 Irish Open in record-equalling style at Killarney – despite all that Padraig Harrington threw at him.
From three behind, Harrington might have thought a closing seven-under-par 64 would seal his national title for the second time in four years.
But Fisher, having lost the six-stroke lead he held in the third round, responded with a 65 to take his fourth European Tour title by two.
The 29 year-old’s 266 aggregate, 18 under par, matched the tournament record set nine years ago by Colin Montgomerie.
And with it, Fisher climbs from 13th to sixth in the race for places in Montgomerie’s Ryder Cup side. “It just feels great to come out on top against such a world-class field,” said Fisher after receiving the trophy and the £415,973 first prize.
“I could hear the roars and knew Padraig was making a charge. I just tried to stay patient and this is what we play for. We want to give ourselves a chance and I am no different.
“I don’t know if I have done enough [to clinch a Ryder Cup debut] yet, but there are two more big weeks coming up and I just want to show Monty I am playing well.”
The WGC Bridgestone Invitational starts on Thursday in Akron, Ohio, and after that comes the final major of the season, the US PGA, at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.
Harrington still has not won a tournament for two years and remains outside the all-important top nine on the points table, but a cheque for £277,312 leaves him far nearer to it than he was. The Dubliner, who has now had 27 second places on the circuit, rated his up and down from a plugged lie in a bunker at the 12th “one of my best ever”.
He added: “Overall I had a lot of chances. I’ve been comfortable with my game for a while, but I just have to trust it a little more. I should not get so stressed – I just have to let it happen a bit more.”
To his immense relief, Fisher had saved par from eight feet on the 17th after giving his first putt far too much pace. “Making a 4 there was huge,” he stated. “If I had come up the last only one ahead it might have been a different story.”
Just three days after England's Robert Rock was disqualified from the 3 Irish Open for a scorecard blunder, Scotland's Marc Warren did the same thing at Killarney.
As with Rock - joint leader at the time - Warren did not see that playing partner Mark Foster had put him down for a birdie three at the 13th and par four on the next instead of the other way round.
At least the former World Cup winner was not on the leaderboard at the time. He had scored a closing 70 for two under and was not in the top 30, but it still cost him nearly £20,000.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 284 (4x71)
Prizemoney in Euros
266 Ross Fisher 69 61 71 65 (500,000).
268 Padraig Harrington 68 67 69 64 (333,330).
270 Chris Wood 71 65 66 68, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 66 69 68 67 (168,900 each)
271 Richard Bland 69 71 66 65, Richard Green (Aus) 65 70 69 67 (116,100 each)
273 Michael Hoey 66 69 71 67 (90,000)
274 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 67 66 69 72 (75,000)
275 Brett Rumford (Aus) 66 69 73 67, Richie Ramsay 71 68 72 64, Joost Luiten (Ned) 74 65 70 66 (60,800 each).
276 Anders Hansen (Den) 67 68 70 71, Darren Clarke 66 70 71 69 (49,950 each).
277 David Drysdale 67 71 72 67, Paul Lawrie 66 72 72 67, Paul McGinley 68 68 71 70, Johan Edfors (Swe) 67 69 71 70 (43,200 each).
278 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 71 70 70 67, Seung-yul Noh (Kor) 66 69 70 73, Paul Waring 75 66 67 70 (37,300 euro
279 Sam Hutsby 69 69 71 70, Shane Lowry 74 65 68 72, Matteo Manassero (Ita) 72 70 68 69, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 68 73 70 68, Jamie Donaldson 72 70 72 65, Graeme Storm 70 71 70 68
280 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 66 74 70 70, Stephen Gallacher 70 72 72 66, Andrew Dodt (Aus) 67 72 74 67, Simon Khan 68 70 73 69 (28,050 each).
281 Graeme McDowell 70 72 68 71, Peter Whiteford 70 69 72 70, David Dixon 67 68 76 70, Richard Finch 70 72 72 67 (24,540 each).
282 Rory McIlroy 67 68 76 71, Damien McGrane 65 72 75 70, Mark F Haastrup (Den) 67 72 67 76, Richard McEvoy 69 72 69 72
283 Anthony Wall 72 70 71 70, Marcel Siem (Ger) 66 70 73 74, Gregory Havret (Fra) 72 69 70 72
284 Anthony Kang (USA) 69 71 74 70, Sion E Bebb 70 71 70 73
285 Anton Haig (Rsa) 66 70 75 74, David Howell 64 75 73 73, Steven O'Hara 68 71 72 74, Paul Broadhurst 68 71 72 74, Justin Rose 74 68 73 70, Markus Brier (Aut) 69 72 74 70, Phillip Archer 71 69 74 71, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 69 70 72 74, Mark Foster 69 70 73 73 (14,700 each).
286 Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 67 73 74 72, Rick Kulacz (Aus) 71 70 71 74, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 70 71 72 73, Mark Brown (Nzl) 72 68 73 73
287 Danny Lee (Nzl) 67 73 73 74, Robert Coles 69 73 76 69, Peter Baker 71 70 73 73, Ariel Canete (Arg) 69 72 73 73
288 Martin Wiegele (Aut) 67 73 73 75, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 69 72 75 72
289 Alastair Forsyth 69 70 72 78, Oskar Henningsson (Swe) 72 70 75 72, Pablo Martin (Spa) 73 69 74 73 (7,200 each).
290 Barrie Trainor 69 73 77 71, Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 68 70 75 77
292 Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 71 70 72 79
294 Julien Quesne (Fra) 71 71 74 78
295 Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 71 70 76 78
DQ: 282 Marc Warren 69 71 72 70

JAMIE REID WINS NE DISTRICT YOUTHS TITLE
Cruden Bay’s Jamie Reid is the new North-east District youths’ golf champion. Reid and Adam Dunton (McDonald Ellon) both finished on two-over-par 140 and Jamie’s better second round, a 69 to a 70, earned him the title at Westhill Golf Club today.
David Young (Deeside) and Donald MacAndrew (Royal Aberdeen) finished joint third on 141.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 138 (2x69). CSS 69 69
140 Jamie Reid (Cruden Bay) 71 69, Adam Dunton (McDonald Ellon) 70 70 (Reid won with better second round).
141 David Young (Deeside) 72 69, Donald MacAndrew (Royal Aberdeen) 71 70.
145 David Morrison (Duff House Royal) 74 71.
146 Scott Robertson (Hazlehead) 77 69, Kamron Zeynalov (Portlethen) 72 74.
148 Greg Kennedy (Hazlehead) 78 70.
150 Steven Smith (Westhill) 77 73, Robbie Gauld (Cruden Bay) 74 76, Daniel Thompsett (Aboyne) 72 78.

Jeff Overton leads by three in Greenbrier Classic

FROM THE GOLF.COM WEBSITE
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, West Virginia (AP) — Jeff Overton saw J.B. Holmes and D.A. Points flirt with 59s, then rode his own hot finish to move within a round of his first US PGA Tour win.
Overton overcame two early bogeys for a 4-under 66 on Saturday and a three-stroke lead over Points at the Greenbrier Classic.
Overton didn't realize his four-shot lead was gone until after Points made a barrage of birdies to jump ahead by three strokes.
"If anything it might have helped me because I was like, 'Geez, what are you doing here, Jeff?'" Overton said. "Here he is three shots up. I was like, 'All right, we've got to get something going here.' I kind of buckled in and made some putts."
Overton made five birdies on the back nine of the Old White course to move to 18 under through three rounds in the inaugural tournament.
The 27-year-old Overton kept the lead despite the low rounds of the year from Points and Holmes, but their dreams of making history with 59s ended on the 572-yard 17th.
Points three-putted for bogey, finished with a 61 and is alone in second at 15 under, and Holmes couldn't convert a 10-footer for eagle at No. 17 and shot 60.
Boo Weekley shot a 67 to reach 13 under, and Holmes is in a four-way tie for fourth with Jonathan Byrd (64), Brendon de Jonge (65) and Jimmy Walker (67) at 12 under for the tournament.
Holmes was among 17 players who made the 36-hole cut on the number. He looks to repeat the performance of Carl Pettersson, who a week ago also made the cut on the number at the Canadian Open, shot 60 in the third round and eventually won by a stroke.
"You know it's possible," said Holmes, whose two PGA Tour wins came at the FBR Open in 2006 and 2008. "Maybe I get hot two days in a row and shoot 60, 60."
Overton didn't come close to matching the 62 he shot Friday, his best round of the year. He led Weekley by four shots to start his day but bogeyed Nos. 2 and 5. By then, Points had taken over with nine birdies over his first 13 holes.
Despite difficulty finding greens in his round, Overton answered with five birdies down the stretch, including short putts at Nos. 16 and 17.
Overton, a former Big Ten player of the year at Indiana who joined the PGA Tour in 2006, is having his best season with four top-five finishes. He's 12th in FedEx Cup points and could jump to No. 2 with a victory.
Points, also seeking his first win, admits thinking about a 59 after holing an 11-foot putt at No. 16. But those thoughts were short lived.
His second shot on No. 17 found a greenside bunker, where he had an awkward stance and blasted out to 28 feet. His birdie attempt was well short and his 4-footer for par slid past.
Points still had a chance to become the fifth player to shoot 59 on Tour with a hole-in-one at the 148-yard 18th, a rare par-3 finishing hole. His tee shot safely found the middle of the green and he made par.
"A little disappointed at first, and fun while it lasted," Points said. "But, you know, it's one of those things that I think we all have opportunity for stuff like this. There's been a couple guys, and there's going to be somebody (Sunday) that will probably have an opportunity."
Holmes, who had 11 birdies and a bogey, went driver-9 iron on No. 17 but watched an 11-foot eagle putt slide to the left. He birdied the par-3 18th for his 60.
Because 85 players qualified for third-round play, the field was cut to the low 70 and ties for Sunday, a policy the US PGA Tour implemented two years ago to avoid two-tee starts and long weekend rounds.
Ricky Barnes, who shot 68 Saturday and was at 4 under, was among eight players failing to make the final round.
Among three golfers tied for eighth place at 11 under is double heart transplant recipient Erik Compton, seeking his first top 10 Tour finish.
"Right now I'm pretty far back," Compton said. "I just need to go out and have a round like J.B. had. Just got to get hot."
Given the day Holmes and Points had, anything's possible.



Read more: http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,2007985,00.html?cid=feed-tours_news-20100731-2007985#ixzz0vKv3zmsp

Couples joins Langer in lead after three rounds of US Senior Open

FROM THE PGA.COM WEBSITE
SAMMAMISH, Washington (AP) — When Fred Couples was struggling to stay near par in the first round, the cheers he heard were mostly from friends and family out to exult the Seattle native.
On Saturday, the hometown boy gave everyone at Sahalee Country Club a reason to roar.
"Today I didn't hear many family because it was loud and so much fun," Couples said.
Couples shot a bogey-free 5-under 65 on Saturday, surging into a share of the U.S. Senior Open lead with Bernhard Langer with a round left. Feeding off the raucous hometown crowd, Couples made five birdies and posted the lowest score of the week.
A week after winning the Senior British Open at Carnoustie, Langer shot 68 on Saturday, posting his third straight round in the 60s.
Couples and Langer were five shots clear of Chien Soon Lu and Tom Kite, giving Sunday a match play feel with a little Ryder Cup thrown in.
"I'm sure there are many, many people rooting for him but I've heard a few Germans out there and I might have my own 12 people cheering for me or whatever, who knows," Langer joked.
Normally reserved, Couples got into the crescendo of sound as his round progressed. When he holed his bunker shot on the sixth to save par, Couples simply flicked his wrist with a little wave. By the time he dropped an 8-foot downhill putt on the 16th, Couples added a subtle fist pump and grin as he walked to the 17th tee.
The whole time galleries six- to eight-deep wedged between Sahalee's massive trees to get a glimpse at the round Couples was giving to his hometown. Now they get to see if the local kid who grew up learning the game at Jefferson Park on Seattle's Beacon Hill can win his first U.S. Golf Association championship 20 miles to the east.
"I'm in a great position to win in my hometown," Couples said. "That's probably not going to happen again, so I don't think that's going to make me more nervous than trying to win the U.S. Senior Open than I think it is, but I'll let you know on the first tee tomorrow."
Couples' round was bogey-free and his best score since shooting a 63 in the first round of a Champions Tour event in late April. His 31 on the front nine could have gone lower, if not for missing a short birdie putt at the fourth.
He made birdies at Nos. 2, 5, 7 and 9, nearly holing his second shot on the seventh, leading playing partner Tom Watson to question the gallery, "That's a gimmie, isn't it?"
But the most important hole was the sixth where Couples appeared headed to at least a bogey, but made a spectacular par. His tee shot flared right and tucked near some overhanging tree limbs. His second caught one of the tree limbs, advancing only 70 yards, and his third was punched under another tree and into a bunker fronting the right side of the green.
Fortunate to have a little green to work with, Couples flopped the bunker shot and watched it roll in the cup for a par, sending a massive roar through the course. The 31 tied the lowest nine-hole score in the first three rounds, matched only by Lu's front nine Saturday.
Couples added par saves on the back at Nos. 15 and 18, sandwiched around an 8-foot downhill birdie putt at the 16th. The score shocked other players, who thought Sahalee played just as tough as the first two rounds.
"The greens were microscopically softer today. I think somebody went out there and spit on the greens a little bit," Kite joked. "They were a little softer today than they had been but I mean the pin placements are unbelievable."
Couples needed his amazing round just to stay even with Langer. Trying to become the first player to win back-to-back Champions Tour majors since 2003, Langer shot his third straight round in the 60s. His streak of 20 holes without a bogey was snapped at the 12th, but rebounded with a 20-foot birdie at No. 18 to get back even with Couples.
Lu shot a 68, and Kite had a 69. Peter Senior (68), Michael Allen (71), Tommy Armour III (72) and John Cook (72) were 1 over. A charge from the back of the field seems unlikely, considering Couples' 65 is the lowest score of the week.
"If we shoot even par or 1 or 2 under it's going to be very hard for anyone to get there," Langer said.
While Couples was making his charge and eliciting waves of cheers through the trees of Sahalee, plenty of other contenders stumbled.
Playing with Couples, Watson was 10 shots worse, shooting a 75. J.R. Roth, in the final group with Langer, also shot 75. John Cook was 3 under for the tournament early in his round, then finished with a 2-over 72.
Cook still believes there's a chance for those well back if the leaders stumble.
"(It) couldn't be a better scenario for the tournament and for the area. That doesn't mean we can't go out and shoot 65 or '6 and steal one," Cook said. "They might get wrapped up in that whole thing, and next thing you know somebody from behind when nobody is paying attention. It's happened before, it could certainly happen here."

Fleetwood's fighting finish wins him English amateur title

FROM THE ENGLISH GOLF UNION WEBSITE
Tommy Fleetwood is the English champion but only after a nervy performance in a see-saw 36-hole final that went the distance at Little Aston.
The Lancastrian edged out Surrey’s Warren Harmston by one hole after he had been two down with seven to play and looking like another national title would pass him by.
But a run of three birdies in four holes from the 12th turned the final on its head after Harmston had been in the driving seat for much of the morning and a great deal of the afternoon round.
So it was a mightily relieved Fleetwood who added his name to an illustrious list of champions of this old event, celebrating its 80th playing.
“I was due a win in a national event,” said Fleetwood. “I was shocked to be two down after 11 holes this afternoon and it didn’t look promising.
“I hit good putts on the tenth and 11th but I wasn’t getting the run of the ball. But from then on my game turned round completely.
“All I was thinking all the way round I was thinking I didn’t want to end my amateur career on a low. But I hit some good birdies and it all came right in the end.
“When I went 1 up on the first this afternoon it was the first time I’d been up in a final since the Amateur Championship which must be well over 100 holes.”
Harmston, who looked for much of the final as if he would pull off a superb victory, was naturally disappointed.
“It’s never nice to lose but credit Tommy. He made the birdies at the right time which swung the match in his favour,” he said.
“I didn’t expect to reach the final but having done so it’s a bit frustrating after all the hard work over the week. But I’ll take a lot of good things away from this week.”
Harmston, who led four times during the morning round, will probably look back on the 18th green where he had a birdie putt to take a one hole lead into lunch. But the ball rolled past.
If he had holed it would have given him a psychological boost. Yet he came out in the afternoon playing the same productive golf and an eagle-three at the third put him back on level terms after Fleetwood had taken the lead for the first time at the first.
Fleetwood bogeys at the eighth and ninth enabled Harmston to reach the turn 2up after going out in 34 and he enjoyed that lead two holes later.
But the match began to swing at the 12th when Fleetwood holed from six feet for birdie and he added another with a two at the short 13th to get back to all square.
At the par four 14th, Harmston tangled with the trees, took three to reach the green and was looking at a five when Fleetwood left his 25-footer stone dead to go 1up.
A further birdie at the long 15th gave Fleetwood a two hole cushion and when he fired his approach to six feet at 16 it looked all over.
But the gritty Harmston, who had again been near the trees, holed from 20 feet for birdie while Fleetwood missed to cut the deficit to one.
They halved the 17th in fours then at 18 Harmston was again in the back fringe and needing to hole to stay alive, chipped past and the battle was over.
Having lost three national finals, the Amateur Championship, Spanish and New South Wales, Fleetwood had laid his personal bogey and joined the likes of Sir Michael Bonallack, Nick Faldo, Mark James and Paul Casey on the English Amateur Roll of Honour.