FLYING DUTCHMAN WINS LYTHAM TROPHY BY 11 SHOTS - BUT GOOD SHOW BY GRAHAM GORDON (T6)

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Colin@scottishgolfview.com 

Flying Dutchman Dan Huizing, ranked No 7 among the world's amateurs, won the Lytham Trophy by an astonish margin of 11 shots with a seven-under-par total of 273 over the Royal Lytham Golf Club venue for this year's Open championship.

He led from start to finish with scores of 67-67-71-68 over the par-70 lay-out and probably never noticed that the course has been toughened up for Rory McIlroy & Co's arrival in July.

It was a Continental 1-2 with Germany's Moritz Lampert the distant runner-up on 284 (69-72-71-72).

From a Scottish point of view, the failure of this season's first two 72-hole tournament winners, Fraser McKenna (Balmore) and Graeme Robertson (Glenbervie), to survive the halfway cut was tempered by the excellent performance of reinstated amateur Graham Gordon (pictured left by Cal Carson Golf Agency).

The Newmachar man, now in his 30s and Scottish champion and a Walker Cup player, both in 2003, lay second with two rounds to go and eventually finished a creditable joint sixth on 287 with scores of 71, 67, 72 and 77. Possibly tiring - illness and injury blighted his unsuccessful spell in the pro ranks - Gordon bogeyed four of his last six holes and did not get a single birdie in his closing round.

Gordon hopes he can do it all again as an amateur but he has been deliberately playing his comeback low key to avoid building up any great expectations, including his own. But this performance against most of the best amateurs in the country and the Continent augurs well for the rest of the season at least.

The next two Scots - only seven made the cut - were Adam Dunton from Ellon in joint 18th position on 292 (73-73-73-73) and Royal Aberdeen's Scott Larkin in joint 22nd place on 293 (70-76-74-73).

Downfield's Ross Bell, well in the picture after an opening 69, gradually tumbled down the leaderboard with rounds of 75, 77 and 79 to finish joint 44th on 300.  

LEADING FINAL TOTALS

Par 280 (4x70)

273 Dan Huizing (Netherlands) 67 67 71 68

284 Moritz Lampert (Germany) 69 72 71 72

285 Ben Westgate (Trevose) 68 74 75 68

286 Paul Barjon (France) 73 71 73 69, Michael Miller (US) 71 73 72 70

287 Graham Gordon (Newmachar) 71 67 72 77, Matthew Wallace (Moor Park) 70 67 77 73.

288 Jonathan Hurst (Pleasington) 73 72 73 70, Callum Shinkwin (Moor Park) 71 74 73 70, Paul Howad (Southport & Ainsdale) 69 75 70 74

289 Clement Bercardo (France) 70 74 73 72, James Frazer (Pennad) 72 70 74 73

290 Craig Hinton (Oxfordshire) 69 77 76 78, Ben Stow (Rushmore) 73 73 73 71.

OTHER SCOTS' SCORES

292 Adam Dunton (McDonald Ellon) 73 73 73 73  (T18) 

293 Scott Larkin (Royal Aberdeen) 70 76 74 73 (T22)

295 Paul Shields (Kirkhill) 72 75 73 75 (T30)

296 Matthew Clark (Kilmacolm) 74 71 73 78 (T34)

298 Daniel Kay (Dunbar) 77 70 76 75 (T41)

300 Ross Bell (Downfield) 69 75 77 79 (T44)

SCROLL DOWN FOR A LIST OF THE SCOTS WHO

MISSED THE CUT

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