Scottish Young Professionals Championship at West Lothian

Louis Gaughan cuts Paul O'Hara winning margin to 2 shots with fine last-day display

Paul O'Hara regained the Scottish Young Professionals' Championship he won in 2013 with a front-running performance that saw him finish two shots clear of the field with a 13-under-par total of 271 at West Lothian Golf Club, Bo'ness, writes Colin Farquharson.
O'Hara collected the £1,000 first prize as he had looked like doing from early in the tournament when he steadily built up a big lead.
The Clydeway Golf man finished with rounds of 67, 65, 69 and 70 but it was not quite so pressure-free on the final day as O'Hara would have liked.
Runner-up Louis Gaughan (Bathgate), nine strokes behind O'Hara after two rounds,  actually made up seven shots on the winner (132 to 139) over the final day's 36 holes.
O'Hara had to slip back into top gear as his lead steadily diminished. He had five birdies in his final round  with those at the 13th, 14th and 15th the most vital after a double bogey 6 at the eighth had possibly raised Gaughan's hopes that he could close the gap.
Gaughan, who had seven birdies in his final halves of 35-32, had scores of 70, 71, 65 and 67 for 273 and collected the £800 second prize, five shots ahead of the third-placed Alan Welsh (Cathkin Braes) who had rounds of 70, 70, 68 and 71 to earn £600.
Defending champion Gavin Hay (Nairn Dunbar) finished down the field on 279, a third-round 80 killing any hopes he might have had of a top 15 or 20 finish.
SCOTTISH YOUNG PROFESSIONALS CHAMPIONSHIP
West Lothian Golf Club, Bo'ness
ALL THE FINAL TOTALS
Par 284 (4x71)
271 P O'Hara (Clydeway Golf) 67 65 69 70 (£1,000)
273 L Gaughan (Bathgate) 70 71 65 67 (£800)
278 A Welsh (Cathkin Braes) 70 70 68 71 (£600)
280 C Marr (Musselburgh) 73 66 73 68 (£450)
281 K McNicoll (Gullane) 70 69 73 6 (£360)
282 C Robinson (Elie Links) 69 72 73 68, G Paterson (St Andrews Links GA) 73 70 73 66 (£300 each).
284 S Binning (Mearns Castle) 73 70 73 68 (£255)
285 S McLaren (Blairgowrie) 69 71 76 69 (£230)
286 S Watters (Balbirnie Park) 73 73 66 74 (£215)
287 C Farrell (Cardross) 73 77 72 65 (£200)
288 J Gallacher (Douglas Park) 71 75 72 70, C Armstrong (Burntisland) 75 69 72 72 (£185 each)
 290 J Brown (Dumfries and Co) 79 68 73 70 (£170).
293 M Penny (Montrose Links) 72 77 73 71 (£160)
294 P Mitchell (Stirling) 71 75 73 75, R Tinker (Piperdam) 74 72 76 72, R Clarke (Gamola Golf) 71 74 77 71, S Maxwell (Eastwood) 68 77 73 76 (£142 each).
295 S Fay (Royal Dornoch) 73 76 75 71, T Dingwall (Kemnay) 72 72 76 75 (£127 each)
296 J Treasurer (Loch Ness) 72 74 72 78 (£120)
297 J Fraser (Renaissance) 75 73 76 73, M Mackenzie (Edzell) 69 76 75 77 (£117 each)
298 C Goodwin (Duff House Royal) 71 77 77 73, R Munro (Duddingston) 68 75 80 75 (£113 each).
299 G Hay (Nairn Dunbar) 76 68 80 73, N Cameron (Blairgowrie) 72 78 72 77 (£109 each).
300 S Speirs (Swanston New) 76 72 71 81 (£106)
301 I Anderson (Colville Park) 76 73 75 77, A Hutchison (Douglas Park) 76 72 78 75 (£103 each)
303 D Flannery (Caldwell) 74 72 81 76 (£100)
304 J Dick (Duddingston) 77 73 77 77 (£98)
305 S Craigon (Balbirnie Park) 72 74 76 83 (£96)
306 S Clark (GLO) 73 77 77 79, S Milne (Balbirnie Park) 74 74 79 79 (£93 each)
310 C Billows (Gleneagles) 77 72 77 84   (£90)
311 F Cramb (Crieff) 76 74 82 79 (£88)