Thailand's Ariya wins Ladies Scottish Open and will 

be World No 1 female pro golfer again on Monday

Thailand will have a new world number one when the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings are released on Monday, after Ariya Jutanugarn conquered rainy conditions to win the Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open, at Gullane Golf Club, in East Lothian.

Jutanugarn first held the world number one position, for two weeks, in June 2017 and she will resume that position after earning her 11^th professional victory on Sunday evening, which was her first on a links golf course.

Reflecting on her performance, she said: “I had so much fun. I didn't expect to win the tournament, because it's a links course.”

The 22-year-old from Bangkok fired a final round of 66 to finish on 13-under-par, a stroke ahead of Minjee Lee from Australia, but Lee missed an unbelievable birdie chance to force a play-off on the par-4 18^th.

Jutanugarn’s wild shot from the 18^th tee went left into the long grass and she played her second shot out across the fairway, but she then produced a beautifully judged chip up to within four feet of the hole and rolled in the putt for a par, to clinch the title, worth 192,415 euros, or $225,000. She has now earned $2,022,765 this season and more than $6,606,097 for her career.

Since winning her first professional title as a rookie in the Ladies European Tour’s Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco in 2013, Jutanugarn has won 10 LPGA titles, including her second Major at this year’s US Women’s Open. She said that her third LET title in Scotland, the Home of Golf, holds a special meaning for her.

“It means a lot to me to win the tournament. I told my caddie this week, you know, what I really want is to win on a links course, just one time in my life would be good, so right now my dream has come true.”

She showed patience throughout the four rounds, played in extremely varied weather conditions, from glorious sunshine for the first two days to strong winds on Saturday and heavy rain showers on Sunday.

Jin-young Ko and Haeji Kang tied for third position on eight-under-par, while Carlota Ciganda and Amy Yang tied for sixth place on seven-under-par.

Ciganda, from Spain, was the only player in the field to have shot under par for each round of the championship and she finished with a 69.  

She said: “I'm happy the way I played. I always enjoy playing here in the U.K. I think it's a good week to prepare for The Open for next week. I'm happy the way I played and excited for next week. You can get four seasons in one day here. We had great weather the first two days.”

There was more than just the trophy at stake as the leading three Ladies European Tour members not already exempt qualified for next week’s Ricoh Women’s British Open, to be held at Royal Lytham and St Annes Golf Club in Lancashire, England. They were Lee-Anne Pace, who tied for eighth place and Nuria Iturrios and Cheyenne Woods, who tied for 35^th.

Jutanugarn won the 2016 Ricoh Women’s British Open at Woburn and is now feeling confident about her chances of claiming a third major. She said: “I feel a lot better about links courses, so I hope I'm going to be able to bring my A Game next week.”

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Richard McEvoy scores first European Tour win after 17 years

Richard McEvoy claimed a dream maiden European Tour victory at the Porsche European Open as the Englishman overcame World Number 23 Bryson DeChambeau, Masters Champion Patrick Reed and a host of pretenders to the throne in a dramatic final day battle, courtesy of a birdie at the last.

The 39-year-old’s win comes in his 285^th European Tour appearance, 17 years after making his debut on the tour and just seven days after triumphing on the developmental European Challenge Tour.

It earned him 333,330 euros.

There were twists and turns aplenty at Green Eagle Golf Courses in Germany as the leaders struggled in the afternoon wind but McEvoy played a safe game throughout and, having shared the lead with DeChambeau heading into the final round, a one over closing 73 was enough.

With German amateur Allen John - who is profoundly deaf and won gold at last year's Deaflympics - Swede Christofer Blomstrand and Italy’s Renato Paratore all in the clubhouse on ten under par, McEvoy required a birdie four on the risk-reward par five 18^th hole to avoid a four-way play-off.

Against the advice of his caddie, the three-time Challenge Tour winner opted to lay up and that decision paid dividends when he knocked his third shot to 15 feet and duly holed the putt for an 11 under total of 277, and an emotional first European Tour success.
Scot David Drysdale finished tied sixth on 281 with scores of 69, 67, 72 and 73. He earned 42,900 euros.
Scott Jamieson earned 30,300 euros for a T16 finish on 282.
Liam Johnston,  Conor Syme and Marc Warren all finished on the 284 mark for a T40 placing. They each earned 21,400 euros.

Player quotes

Richard McEvoy

“It was a rollercoaster ride today, big time. I fought hard, I believed and even at the last hole I overpowered my caddie to lay it up to give myself the best opportunity to make birdie and I managed to do that.

“It's incredible. I've waited a long time, 17 years as a pro on and off the Tour, from Challenge Tour to European Tour. I'm absolutely over the moon.

“I did exactly the same last week winning on the Challenge Tour, I've tried to enjoy my golf as much as possible. Not that I haven't been before but I just needed to that little bit more and it's just come up trumps.

“It started a couple of weeks ago.  I played a pro-am at Queenwood and shot 64 - a course record - and beat the likes of Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Adam Scott and a few other boys and that was the start of the confidence-kick really.

“Last week's win on the Challenge Tour obviously was another boost to the confidence and it’s come good again this week. It was a lot of hard work, a lot of bad years, a lot of good years and it never quite happened. But it was my time on the 18^th green, holing that putt, so I’m very pleased.”

Allen John

“It's been absolutely incredible. The atmosphere out there, the people that've been walking with me for all of the 18 holes, it's just an incredible feeling.

"Making birdie after birdie on the back nine was quite cool and when I was on 18 I saw the leaderboard and I was like 'wow, I'm pretty much in contention'. It's a pretty cool feeling.

“I was so in the moment that I didn’t really notice anything around me. The concentration and the routine of doing the same stuff over and over and just play the best shot that I can. That pretty much helped me to finish 18 holes without any distractions.

"There's a lot of self confidence I can take out of the tournament, being in contention, finishing this high on the leaderboard, that's a pretty amazing feeling and gives me a lot of confidence in the abilities that I can do on a golf course.”

Christofer Blomstrand

“It was a fun final round. I actually didn’t hit the ball as well as I did on the other days but I’m happy with the 68. I was hitting quite bad shots even on 17 which was quite a bad putting stroke, but I was a little nervous.

“I had quite a good chance on the last and I was thinking it was going to go down to the pin when it reached the green but it just stopped up on the top. I wanted to give the putt a try but it was a little firm.

“It’s one of my best weeks ever. It’s been quite a hard season for me so this is a step in the right direction.”

Renato Paratore

“It’s been a good day. My short game has been really good and it helped me a lot. The long game was OK, but in the last four holes I played really good and it was a good round.

“That shot at 18 was fantastic, it’s one I’ll have in my mind for the rest of my life. This year until now has been very difficult but now to have a result like this is fantastic.”

FINAL TOTALS

par 288 (4x72)

277 R McEvoy (Eng) 70 65 69 73
278 R Paratore (Ita) 72 66 70 70, C Blomstrand (Swe) 72 67 71 68, A John (am) (Ger) 68 73 70 67
279 H Tanihara (Jpn) 69 70 71 69, R Wattel (Fra) 67 69 72 71
280 M Schwab (Austria) 68 67 70 75, P Casey (Eng) 69 69 69 73
281 D Drysdale (Sco) 69 67 72 73, C Schwartzel (SAf) 70 69 72 70, P Reed (USA) 70 66 69 76, M Nixon (Eng) 73 71 69 68,
282 J Wang (SKor) 73 65 72 72, A Levy (Fra) 69 68 76 69, S Jamieson (Sco) 70 71 70 71, T Detry (Belgium) 72 72 69 69, B Dechambeau (USA) 66 68 70 78, D Lipsky (USA) 69 75 68 70
283 M Calderon (Chile) 71 72 69 71, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 67 75 70 71, S Hend (Australia) 68 71 69 75
284 C Syme (Sco) 68 72 72 72, S Kjeldsen (Denmark) 69 72 74 69, D Kataoka (Jpn) 71 71 71 71, L Johnston (Sco) 72 70 72 70, M Warren (Sco) 73 71 67 73, J Winther (Denmark) 70 72 73 69, J Lima (Portugal ) 70 71 74 69,
285 J Choi (SKor) 69 75 72 69, L Jensen (Denmark) 68 72 71 74, T Aiken (SAf) 73 71 72 69, B Dredge (Wales) 68 69 73 75, O Wilson (Eng) 73 71 73 68, M Kieffer (Ger) 69 71 71 74, L Herbert (Australia) 75 67 75 68, F Aguilar (Chile) 72 68 71 74, R Cho (SKor) 72 72 67 74, P Mejow (Ger) 69 69 73 74
286 R Ramsay (Sco) 75 69 70 72, D Horsey (Eng) 69 73 67 77, O Fisher (Eng) 68 71 73 74, L Bjerregaard (Denmark) 75 68 74 69, R Sterne (SAf) 72 71 72 71, M Lundberg (Swe) 71 70 75 70
287 J Walters (SAf) 72 72 70 73, J Stalter (Fra) 67 76 69 75, N Geyger (Chile) 72 69 77 69
288 T Pulkkanen (Finland) 71 72 69 76, C Shinkwin (Eng) 71 70 70 77, S Horsfield (Eng) 70 71 69 78, S Heisele (Ger) 71 69 72 76, S Gros (Fra) 72 70 74 72, B Hafthorsson (Iceland) 72 70 75 71
289 C Mivis (Belgium) 71 69 73 76, S Brown (Eng) 68 73 77 71, M Siem (Ger) 71 70 75 73, J Guerrier (Fra) 72 72 71 74, A Dodt (Australia) 68 74 74 73, M Pavon (Fra) 72 70 77 70, A Saddier (Fra) 72 71 72 74, N Elvira (Spn) 72 72 69 76, H Sturehed (Swe) 70 71 74 74
290 S Fernandez (Spn) 72 68 77 73
291 O Farr (Wales) 70 74 71 76, C Sordet (Fra) 71 72 75 73, K Koivu (Finland) 72 70 73 76, J Smith (Eng) 71 72 75 73
292 Ó Serna (Mexico) 73 69 72 78, J Morrison (Eng) 70 70 76 76, A Otaegui (Spn) 70 74 74 74
293 J Kolbing (Ger) 73 70 74 76
294 P Hanson (Swe) 70 71 73 80, B Staben (Ger) 67 77 75 75
298 J Thomson (Eng) 78 65 74 81

David Law has to settle for second place finish on Challenge Tour in Austria

Dutchman Darius Van Driel just managed to hold off Aberdeen's David Law to win the European Challenge Tour's Euram Bank Open at Adamstal Golf Club, Ramsau in Austria today.
Both men had brilliant third-round scores of eight-under 62 to share the lead going into the final circuit.
It was neck and neck down the home straight but Van Driel was able to hold the Scot at bay by posting closing round of 67 to Law's 68 to win the 28,800 euros first prize.
Law, who scored his first win on the Challenge Tour only a couple of weeks ago, earned 19,800 euros.
There were two other Scots in the top 11 - Scott Henry who shot the day's lowest round of 65 to share fifth place on 267 and earn 7,320 euros.
Duncan Stewart (Grantown on Spey) finished joint 11th on 269 with a closing round of 66 to earn 3,420 euros


LEADING FINAL TOTALS
par 280 (4x70)
263 D Van Driel (Netherlands) 70 64 62 67 (28,800 euros)
264 D Law (Scot) 66 68 62 68 (19,800 euros)
265 S Crocker (USA) 64 65 69 67, J Hansen (Denmark) 65 65 68 67 (11,700 euros each).

OTHER SCOTS' SCORES
267 S Henry 68 68 66 65 (T5) (7,320 euros)
269 D Stewart 67 66 70 66 (T11) (3,240 euros)
273 C Hill 65 67 71 70 (T26) (1,548 euros)
280 J McDonald 69 70 70 71 (T55) (639 euros)

Bogey-free Law comes up one short of a play-off

CHALLENGE TOUR NEWS RELEASE

Darius van Driel survived an epic Sunday battle at the top of the leaderboard to claim his first win on the European Challenge Tour at the inaugural Euram Bank Open.

The Dutchman began the final round with a share of the lead alongside Aberdeen’s David Law — two shots clear of Road To Ras Al Khaimah leader Joachim B. Hansen and American Sean Crocker, who made the cut at last week’s 147^th Open Championship.

After his second birdie of the day on the par four fifth hole, van Driel had taken sole possession of the lead but was quickly joined by Crocker after he started his final round with birdies on four of the first seven holes.

Crocker briefly held the solo-lead following a van Driel bogey on the par three eight hole, but when the American dropped a shot at the 9^th, van Driel reasserted himself atop the Euram Bank Open leaderboard by birdieing the same hole.

The lead continued to change hands throughout the back-nine and by the time the penultimate pairing reached the penultimate hole, all four players in the final two groups were tied on 16 under par.

Crocker was the first of the quartet to fall off as he bogeyed the par four 17^th hole and was then joined by his playing partner Hansen on 15 under par as the Dane made a four on the closing par three.

“On 17 I thought ‘well this is the one’ and luckily I made birdie there,” van Driel said.  “It helped me to take a one stroke lead to the last, which is what you want on a par three.”
Law did not drop a shot the entire final day, but he could only manage to make par on the closing holes.
Van Driel barely missed the green on the 72^nd hole and played a quality shot to within a few feet of the cup, but the distance left for victory felt much longer for The Hague resident who had never won on the Challenge Tour.

“It was a little bit too long,” he said. “I know I chipped it close, but it was still too far away to really be at ease about it. I felt my hands shaking, but luckily it went in.

“It feels great. At the start of the season I didn’t think it would be possible to win this year, but it all came together this week, so I’m very happy with it.”
With the win, van Driel jumps 126 places on the Road To Ras Al Khaimah and is now in a position to make a push towards finishing the season inside the top-15 as several key events on the Challenge Tour International Schedule remain.

“This changes things big time,” he said. “I was already planning on preparing for Q-School but now I move up a few spots in the rankings, so it changes a lot.

“The end of last year and the start of this year I switched between clubs a little bit and found it hard to get into the groove.
“The last few weeks there have been a lot of birdies but also a lot of bogeys. This week, apart from the first round, I kept the bogeys off my card and that was the key to winning.”
The Challenge Tour now travels to Sweden for the Swedish Challenge hosted by Robert Karlsson at Katrineholms Golf Club for the 17^th event on the Road To Ras Al Khaimah.
FINAL TOTALS
par 280 (4x70)

263 D Van Driel (Ned) 70 64 62 67,
264 D Law (Sco) 66 68 62 68,
265 J Hansen (Den) 65 65 68 67, S Crocker (USA) 64 65 69 67,
267 M Keskari (Ger) 69 68 62 68, S Henry (Sco) 68 68 66 65, B Virto (Esp) 71 68 62 66,
268 P Figueiredo (Por) 69 67 64 68, B Ritthammer (Ger) 68 69 66 65, F Mruzek (Cze) 64 70 66 68,
269 D Stewart (Sco) 67 66 70 66, F Laporta (Ita) 65 71 65 68, J Sarasti (Esp) 72 64 64 69, A Korinek (Cze) 67 70 67 65, T Murray (Eng) 69 67 65 68,
271 J Davidson (Wales) 71 65 65 70, S Einhaus (Ger) 68 67 68 68, M Trappel (Aut) 68 64 70 69, W Besseling (Ned) 65 72 69 65, S Matus (Cze) 70 68 67 66, S Manley (Wal) 68 68 69 66, M Galiano Aguilar (Esp) 68 67 67 69,
272 M Gradecki (Pol) 70 68 62 72, E Di Nitto (Ita) 67 69 71 65, E Lipparelli (Ita) 66 69 71 66,
273 J Kunzenbacher (Ger) 68 68 69 68, J Van Der Vaart (Ned) 67 68 70 68, D Huizing (Netherlands) 72 66 69 66, C Hill (Sco) 65 67 71 70, J Allan (Eng) 68 68 70 67,
274 H Casey (Eng) 69 67 72 66, J Carlsson (Swe) 65 71 66 72, J Brun (Fra) 69 69 66 70, B Easton (SAf) 72 67 67 68, M Dobias (Switz) 68 65 71 70, T Cruz (Portugal) 71 67 66 70, N Møller (Den) 68 71 67 68,
275 J Rutherford (Eng) 69 69 68 69, E Cuartero Blanco (Spn) 67 72 70 66, L Van Meijel (Ned) 70 68 69 68, D Perrier (Fra) 69 69 70 67, K Ventura (Nor) 66 70 67 72,
276 H Joannes (Bel) 68 70 66 72, M Ovesen (Den) 72 66 69 69, J Erkenbeck (USA) 67 71 72 66,
277 L Nemecz (Austria) 70 68 73 66, T Baltl (Austria) 72 66 70 69, P McBride (Irl) 67 71 69 70, A Plant (Eng) 67 71 71 68,
278 R De Sousa (Switz) 67 68 69 74, T Linard (Fra) 68 65 72 73, J Lando Casanova (Fra) 69 68 70 71,
279 O Lieser (Cze) 69 70 70 70, C Sharvin (Nir) 68 65 72 74,
280 J McDonald (Sco) 69 70 70 71, A Tadini (Ita) 69 70 69 72,
281 E Goya (Arg) 70 68 70 73, A Chapman (Eng) 67 72 74 68, M Gaspar (Por) 69 68 67 77,
283 M Pastor (Esp) 66 65 75 77,
284 D McElroy (Nir) 70 68 69 77,
285 R Kakko (Fin) 69 69 67 80, B Reiter (Aut) 68 67 77 73, 

MONTROSE LINKS' LADIES' OPEN DAY

LEADING SCORES

CSS 75

SCRATCH

1 Doreen Leask (Montrose Mercantile) 80

2 Sakuna Ramsay (Edzell) 82

HANDICAP

Up to 14 handicap

1 Colette Blacklock (Ryde Parramatta) 81 (6) 75

2 Elizabeth Robertson (Isla Canela) 84 (8) 76

15 to 28 handicap

1 Hazel Howatson (Royal Montrose) (16) 77

2 Cathy Beattie (Arbroath Artisans) (24) 78

GEORGE AND ETHEL NORRIE TROPHY – BEST SCRATCH

1 Doreen Leask (Montrose Mercantile) 80

NICOLL TROPHY – BEST HANDICAP OVERALL

1 Colette Blacklock (Ryde Parramatta) (6) 75

Claire Penman 

Deputy Operations Manager and Company Secretary 

Address: Montrose Golf Links |  Traill Drive | Montrose | Angus | DD10 8SW 

Tel: +44 (0) 1674 672932| 

Website: www.montrosegolflinks.com

NORTH-EAST WIN INTER-DISTRICT BOYS' 

MATCH AT BALLATER

North-east District beat Perth and Kinross and North in an U18 boys' inter-district triangular eight-a-side match at Ballater Golf Club today (Sunday).The teams were able to discard their highest individual score.

North-east won with an aggregate of 517. Perth and Kinross (526) were runners-up and North (529) third.

Logan Gillies (Nairn) and Jason Bruce (Deeside) had the lowest individual rounds of 71, which was the CSS for the day. Logan won the top prize with a better inward half. Gregor Graham (Blairgowrie) and Fraser Matthew (Blairgowrie) finished third and fourth with 72s, Graham having the better inward half and Matthews the better last three holes in a countback against Rory Cromarty (Nairn) and Cormac Sharpe (Blairgowrie) who also had scores of 72.

SCOREBOARD

CSS 71

517 NORTH-EAST

71 Jason BrUce (Deeside).

73 Ellis Gray (Duff House Royal).

74 Cameron Gray (Cruden Bay), Ruari Mair (Buckpool), Owen Walker (Newmachar), Evan Orr (Newmachar).

77 Ruaridh Fenwick (Deeside).

Discarded score: 84 Ryan Lovie (Duff House Royal)

526 PERTH and KINROSS

72 Fraser Matthews (Blairgowrie), Gregor Graham (Blairgowrie), Cormac Sharpe (Blairgowrie).

73 Jamie Roberts (Muckhart).

77 Alex Simpson (Strathmore).

78 Harry Clark (Auchterarder).

82 Declan Gray (Blairgowrie).

Discarded score: 83 Connor Graham (Blairgowrie).

529 NORTH

71 Logan Gillies (Nairn).

73 Rory Cromarty (Nairn).

74 Fraser Owenson (Nairn).

75 Jake Williamson (Fortrose and Rosemarkie).

78 Ben Patience (Fortrose and Rosemarkie).

79 Calum Daun (Nairn).

80 Ewan Cuthbert (Inverness).

Discarded score: 82 Scott Lawrie (Nairn).

ends

Craig Wallace beats Steve Aitken in Fife championship final

Craig Wallace (Balbirnie Park) beat Stevie Aitken (Leven Thistle) by 4 and 3 in today's Fife Golf Association championship final at Drumoig.

 Craig Wallace (left) and Stevie Aitken.

Hannah Darling finishes jt 12th in European 

Young Masters' girls championship
Sebastien Friedrichsen (Denmark) beat Sakke Siltala (Finland) at the first hole of a sudden-death play-off to win the  European Young Masters boys' title at Hauger Golf Club, Norway today (Sunday). 
Friedrichsen had scores of 70, 71 and 73 for a two-under-par total of 214 which was matched by Siltala's rounds of exactly the same scores.
 Overnight leader, Pedro Cruz Silva (Portugal), dropped three shots in the first two holes and finished the day with a disappointing 82 for 226.
Scotland's Aidan O'Hagan (Old Ranfurly) (77-72-80) and Nairn's Calum Scott (76-77-78) finish joint 26th and 32nd respectively with totals of 229 and 231.
The European Young Masters girls' event was won by England's Caitlin Whitehead (Carus Green GC, Cumbria). She had scores of 71, 69 and 73 for three-under 213 and a three- shot victory. It is the second succesive year England have won the individual girls' title following Lily-May Humphreys' success in 2017.
Hannah Darling (Broomieknowe) finished just outside the top 10 in joint 12th place with scores of 77, 79 and 74 for 230.
Aboyne's Carmen Griffiths, one of the youngest competitors in the field, scored 76, 78 and 84 for 238 and a joint 23rd placing.

Four-way tie for Canadian Open lead

OAKVILLE, Ontario -- Top-ranked Dustin Johnson used a fast start and a late eagle to grab a share of the lead Saturday in the RBC Canadian Open.
Johnson shot a 7-under 65 at Glen Abbey to match Kevin Tway, Byeong Hun An and Whee Kim at 17-under 199.
"I like the golf course, I feel like my game's in really good form, I've got a lot of confidence in it,'' said Johnson, who tied for second at Glen Abbey in 2013 and 2016.
Johnson birdied the first three holes and five of the first six, then rebounded from two back-nine bogeys with a birdie-birdie-eagle run. He's seeking his third victory of the season and 19th on the tour.
"I'm going to have to go out and play really well tomorrow,'' Johnson said. "There's definitely low numbers out here. There's a lot of guys right around the lead, and somebody's going to go shoot low. Hopefully it's me.''
Tway, the second-round leader, had a 68. He's trying to win his first US PGA Tour title in the event where father Bob Tway won the last of his tour titles 15 years ago.
"I looked [at the leaderboard] a little bit. He started off really hot,'' Tway said about Johnson.
An shot 66, and Kim 67.
"Chasing the lead or holding the lead, it doesn't matter. Just play your game,'' Kim said. "Everybody's going to say the same thing. It doesn't matter.''
Mackenzie Hughes was the top Canadian. He was tied for 13th at 11 under after a 67.
Johnson insists he's only popular in Canada by proxy -- fiancee Paulina Gretzky is the daughter of NHL great Wayne Gretzky.
"Well, I can thank Wayne for that,'' Johnson said. "There's a lot of Gretzky fans out there, and so they tend to pull for me, which, 'Thanks, Wayne, I appreciate that.' I do get a lot of love up here, and the fans have been great this week.''

to view the Canadian Open scoreboard

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