It might have been a disappointing back nine finish for Brendan McGovern at the Senior Scottish Open but the Headfort professional still claimed his best finish on the senior tour with a tie for 8th place.
McGovern had a flawless front nine carding birdies on his third and sixth holes to turn in 34 but the back nine proved a tougher task. After carding only two bogies all week McGovern dropped shots on ten, fourteen, fifteen and eighteen mixed with birdies on eleven and sixteen to card a final round of 71.
The result earned McGovern just shy of €8000 and meant the Headfort professional jumped up 6 places in the overall order of merit to 36th. At the top Paul Broadhurst secured the Scottish Senior Open title for a second time with a three-stroke victory at Renaissance Club.
The Englishman, who won this title on his European Senior Tour debut in 2015, carded rounds of 66-67-67 to finish three shots ahead of Australia’s Mike Harwood.
Winner of the Senior Open Championship Presented by Rolex at Carnoustie last year, this is Broadhurst’s third victory on Scottish soil in four events.
“I love links golf,” said Broadhurst. “I’ve had some serious practice in the wind over the last few weeks at The Open and Senior Open. I’ve mastered the knock-down shot and that was key this week.
“I hit some really close irons into strong winds; that was the key to the win. It’s great to win this event again; this trophy really means a lot to me”
Above – Paul Broadhurst with the title courtesy of Getty Images
“I played pretty solid,” said Broadhurst. “I had a perfect start with my birdie on the first and Magnus making bogey. That put me three shots ahead and that was a nice cushion; but it’s never enough, you always want to be five or six shots ahead. There were a couple of hairy moments around the turn when the rain came down, I was a bit concerned with how much was going to come down and how it would affect my game.”
“But I held it together and had a good saving par on 14 which gave me some breathing space. It’s always nice walking up the last with a three-shot lead. It beats having one shot and then it play on your nerves. I enjoyed the way I played today.”
Final scores:
200 P Broadhurst (Eng) 66 67 67,
203 M Harwood (Aus) 67 69 67,
205 B Lane (Eng) 69 69 67, C Williams (RSA) 71 65 69, G Orr (Sco) 75 67 63,
206 M Atlevi (Swe) 67 67 72,
207 P Eales (Eng) 71 68 68,
208 B McGovern (Irl) 70 67 71, T Thelen (USA) 69 71 68, M Mouland (Wal) 72 65 71,
209 S Dodd (Wal) 72 68 69, J Sandelin (Swe) 71 70 68, P Fowler (Aus) 74 66 69, D Gilford (Eng) 72 67 70, S Brown (Eng) 70 71 68,
210 S Tinning (Den) 72 71 67, C Mason (Eng) 68 72 70, G Turner (Nzl) 71 68 71, J Sallat (Fra) 72 72 66, R Chapman (Eng) 72 70 68, T Wiratchant (Tha) 71 69 70,
211 A Bossert (Sui) 73 69 69, M Martin (Esp) 72 70 69,
212 G Marks (Eng) 75 69 68, C Monasterio (Arg) 73 68 71,
213 J Remesy (Fra) 72 72 69, R Rafferty (Nir) 76 71 66, G Rusnak (USA) 71 71 71, S Luna (Esp) 77 65 71, M McNulty (Irl) 71 70 72,
214 G Wolstenholme (Eng) 74 72 68, P O’Malley (Aus) 73 72 69, A Oldcorn (Sco) 77 70 67, P Linhart (Esp) 74 70 70,
215 I Woosnam (Wal) 73 74 68, B Longmuir (Sco) 74 66 75,
216 R Drummond (Sco) 74 70 72, M Farry (Fra) 77 69 70, P Wesselingh (Eng) 69 74 73, B Conser (USA) 74 74 68, S McAllister (Sco) 72 70 74,
217 P Golding (Eng) 76 70 71,
218 C Dennis (USA) 71 71 76, M Mackenzie (Eng) 76 69 73,
220 S Torrance (Sco) 76 74 70, D Smyth (Irl) 74 74 72,
221 P Walton (Irl) 73 77 71, C Suneson (Esp) 72 78 71, P Mitchell (Eng) 77 72 72,
224 P Wilson (Eng) 79 66 79, A Mednickson (Swe) 76 78 70,
225 C Rocca (Ita) 75 74 76,
226 D Russell (Eng) 73 76 77, E Darcy (Irl) 79 70 77,
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