The Spaniard may have a green jacket in the wardrobe thanks to his Masters triumph at Augusta National in 2017, but the 43-year-old, not for a lack of trying, has never won at the Home of Golf — Scotland (if you don’t count junior and team events).

Garcia sets out once again to change that this week as he tees it up at the St Andrews Bay Championship on the Asian Tour’s International Series — the sixth stop on the elevated circuit.

“It would be nice to win [in Scotland] obviously I have been close a few times. If you count the Ryder Cup, yes, I have won here,” said Garcia, ahead of the Asian tour’s first-ever event in Scotland. “It is something I would like to have the possibility of changing. We’ll give it our best shot.”

Garcia, 43, claimed the Amateur Championship in 1998 at Muirfield, and was part of the Spanish team, along with Miguel Ángel Jiménez and José María Olazábal, to win the Alfred Dunhill Cup the following year on The Old Course at St Andrews, but the closest he has come to triumphing indivually the Open Championship at Carnoustie in 2007 — when Ireland’s Padraig Harrington denied him victory after a four-hole playoff.

“It is very exciting. Winning is one of the reasons we are here,” he said. “I have always enjoyed playing in Scotland. I love the crowds here and it’s good to see. I didn’t have to come and play this week, but I wanted to, it really drove me to come here.”

England’s Paul Casey had earlier observed that it hadn’t occurred to him how unusual it is for the Asian Tour to be in Scotland as major Tour’s today hold events all over the world, and Garcia felt the same.

He said: “It is something you don’t really think about. We play in so many different places and so many different Tours and I think at the end of the day the game is a global game, so I think that is the way I look at it. The Asian Tour is playing in a lot of spots now. I see it as a positive and something nice and it just shows how global our game is.

“And I am sure there are other places they want to go, and they have to find what fits best for everyone. But it’s good to see and you never know maybe they will add one or two more here.”

The post Sergio Garcia hunts a first-ever win in Scotland on International Series event at St Andrews appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

There’s always a measured sense of calm on Sadom Kaewkanjana’s face. But mention links golf and he brightens up, considerably.

That’s a bit surprising, considering that the 25-year-old Thai hardly played on links courses in his growing years. His first stint came well into his teenage years in amateur tournaments, and the love story reached a peak last year during the 150th Open Championship at the Old Course where he closed with a stunning seven-under par 65 for a tied 11th place last year — the best-ever performance by a player from his country in the event.

Ahead of this week’s $1.5 million St Andrews Bay Championship, being played Fairmont St Andrews, he says there is a very specific reason for his love for links golf, and the excitement is palpable.

“I love links courses. I have been looking forward to this tournament,” said Sadom, currently in sixth place on the Asian Tour Order of Merit.

“Honestly, I don’t like to chip much. But the links courses give you an amazing opportunity to be creative with your putter. To be able to putt from way off the green is a challenge that I love. It’s a great satisfaction when you hit a long putt and can see it snaking all the way to the hole.”

Sadom, who eagled the fifth hole at the Open last year with a well-read putt from 45 feet, finished third in the inaugural International Series England at Slaley Hall last year, another indication of how comfortable he is in British conditions.

“I really like playing in the UK. I don’t mind the cold and I don’t mind the wind,” he said. “I am also OK with the rain. I played well at The Open last year and also at Slaley Hall. Hopefully, I will be able to carry on the great memories I have from the Old Course to Fairmont, which is just a few miles away in St Andrews.

“St Andrews is such a special place for golf and all the courses in the area are a dream to play for any golfer. One should not be worrying about the weather when we get a chance to play here.”

Sadom Kaewkanjana. Asian Tour

The Thai star recently spent a month as a practising monk in a monastery back home, and feels the lessons he learned there will become a powerful 15th club in his arsenal when on a golf course.

“It was something that I wanted to do and when I got the break in Asian Tour schedule, I went ahead with it,” he said.

“It was all about leading a very simple life, and a very regimented one. We had to follow a strict schedule. We only ate breakfast and lunch, and that felt good. We were not allowed to use our mobile phones when in the monastery.

“It was a great experience as a person, and I really believe it is going to beneficial for my golf. We had to do a lot of meditation, and it has helped me concentrate better. It was all about living in the present, and those are just some of the things that you need to do when playing golf.”

The St Andrews Bay Championship starts on Thursday.

The post Sadom Kaewkanjana on his love of links ahead of Asian Tour’s International Series St Andrews Bay Championship in Scotland appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The world’s best players including six of the world’s top 10 have landed at Dundonald Links for the Women’s Scottish Open, with defending champion Ayaka Furue, US Women’s Open Champion Allisen Corpuz, and golf’s latest major winner Celine Boutier talking to the media.

Ayaka Furue
World No. 18

• Defending Champion
• Shortest active player on the LPGA at 5 foot
• Won last year’s event in her rookie year on the LPGA
• A final round 62 to seal victory last year included a run of six consecutive birdies
• Has earned seven top-10 finishes this season, including second place at the Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play

On what the Japanese fans thought of her rookie win in Scotland…
“When I went back to Japan, all the Japanese fans, they already know the bunkers and the course is very difficult. So they were very happy that I was able to win in that condition, and everybody said great job, great job.”
On her tactics this week…
“I’m only trying to be a good friend with the wind on this course and enjoy my golf this week.”

Celine Boutier. Women’s Scottish Open

Celine Boutier
World No. 4

• First French winner of the Amundi Evian Championship
• Four LPGA victories to her name
• Won this year’s Amundi Evian Championship by six shots over two-time major winner Brooke Henderson
• Has finished within the top-10 at every major:
  The Chevron Championship                     T4: 2022
  KPMG Women’s PGA Championship      T7: 2021
  U.S. Women’s Open                                   T5: 2019
  AIG Women’s Open                                   6th: 2019
  The Amundi Evian Championship            Won: 2023

On winning her first major in front of her home fans…
“I never really pictured how it was going to happen. Obviously it was such a dream for me. I wouldn’t even call it a goal for me this year. I obviously wanted to perform well in the majors. But in the past I was never really able to play well in Evian, just the pressure of everything was a lot for me to handle and this year, I just decided to really do it for myself and not put so much pressure on myself. The fact that I even had a chance to play for the win in the final round was a big advantage for me and to pull it off on the final day to, have the crowd behind you, which I never imagined that they would be so loud and so energetic, so passionate about it. It felt like a win for me and it felt like a  win for them as well. To be able to share it with everyone in my home country is an absolute dream come true.”
On why she is here this week after the biggest victory of her life…
“I had a very good week last year on this course. I feel like I really enjoy playing in links course. And I feel like even though Walton Heath is not going to be like links, traditional links, I feel like it’s still good to be in the UK and Scotland and to be able to get a feel for the wind and weather and stuff like that. I feel like it was going to be a good week to prepare for the British.”

Allisen Corpuz. Women’s Scottish Open

Allisen Corpuz
World No. 7

• Won her first major at this year’s US Women’s Open at Pebble Beach
• In her rookie year on the LPGA, she made 17 of 21 cuts and finished the year at 41st on the Rolex World Rankings
• Member of the victorious 2021 Curtis Cup team in Wales, which was also her first-time playing links golf
• Making her second appearance at the Women’s Scottish Open

On returning to Dundonald Links…
“I think it’s definitely a gettable course. There’s a lot of birdie opportunities. There’s just a few holes that play a little tougher, a little longer and especially with the wind it can definitely be tough to gauge just yardages in, how much the ball is going to roll out, even into the wind, how much the wind is going to play a factor there. So really just coming in with a little more knowledge and trying to score a little better this year.”
On what she enjoys most about links golf…
“Yeah, I haven’t quite figured it out yet but I think it’s really fun. I think it’s great to watch drives roll like a hundred yards and be thinking, Oh, it’s going to roll up 50 yards to the green. I think that’s really fun. It definitely just takes some extra time, a little more thought, but I love it.”
On staying onsite this week…
“It’s beautiful and a very spacious room. Very nice shower. It’s just nice to be able to roll out of bed and just walk on to property. It’s nice to be able to see the course from the room. Haven’t had dinner here yet but the food has been really good so far.”

The post What they said: Stars speak ahead of Women’s Scottish Open at Dundonald Links appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The construction of new golf holes is not a common sight in Scotland, but it’s happening in the Highlands just north of the town of Inverness where Tom Doak and his team have begun the construction of his original course at Cabot Highlands.

Located on Moray Firth just five minutes from Inverness airport, the expanded Cabot Highlands development includes the Castle Stuart course, designed by Gil Hanse and the late Mark Parsinen in 2009, the yet-to-be-named Doak course, a new clubhouse and upscale residences.

After working recently on true links sites at St Patrick’s in County Donegal, Ireland, and Te Arai in New Zealand, as well as in the malleable sandy soils of central Wisconsin at Sand Valley (building The Lido, opened this summer, and Sedge Valley, opening next summer), the Cabot Highland project poses a different type of challenge for Doak. Namely, creating a course that matches the splendour of the seaside site, and one that looks and plays like a links despite not having the links soils and undulations.

The Doak course will have many of the same views and perspectives at the neighbouring Castle Stuart course.

The Doak course will have many of the same views and perpectives at the neighboring Castle Stuart course

It might be assumed that natural links (defined basically as non-arable oceanside land with sandy soils, rumpled, dunelike movements and native fescues and other grasses and plants, sometimes gorse) occur around the coast of Scotland. Actually, only about 300 miles of the country’s 7,500-mile coast is considered links, or about 4 per cent. Links are rare and specific, and while the Inverness region possesses timeless links such as Nairn, Royal Dornoch and Brora, the section of land for the Doak course doesn’t fit the category.

The golf features at the new course will need to be imagined and constructed, like those at Castle Stuart were. The site, located on a bay just east and south of the existing courses, has its advantages, including lovely water views, holes that jump and play along a tidal estuary, brush past the Old Petty burial ground and cross to and fro over Rough Burn.

The holes are laid out like a grand prix course with parallel runs that chicane back and forth (one through four; 16 though 18), make a series of left-hand turns, switch back, then make a series of right-hand turns before hitting the homestretch along the edge of land, all illustrated gorgeously above by Don Placek of Renaissance Golf.

The specific details and nuance of the holes and their shaping will be developed in the field this autumn and next, with the opening of the course expected in 2025. Cabot Highlands and the Doak course adds another magnetic force that should not just attract players to the north of Scotland, but also keep them there longer.

The post Tom Doak breaks ground on new course in Inverness, Scotland appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

It’s not a bad time to be in the market for a golf-friendly mega mansion. We recently showed you a $14-million Calgary compound replete with its own nine-hole course and clubhouse. Now our eagle-eyed friends in Scotland have brought an even more incredible gem to our attention:

If you have a spare £2.5m, you could own every golfer's dream house.

A seven-bed, beach house in North Berwick with a direct view of one of the best greens in the world of golf.https://t.co/S19SC36Xfr pic.twitter.com/pazVIxH8gD

— Jamie Kennedy (@jamierkennedy) June 1, 2023

A $2.9-million Scottish estate with North Berwick West Links’ infamous 16th green — which Phil Mickelson once called the “craziest green” he’d ever seen — as a veritable backyard. Not too shabby.

This golf nerd’s dream home features seven bedrooms, four bathrooms, a dedicated billiards room and of course 180-degree views of the Firth of Forth. You want photos? You got photos.

Rightmove

In addition to the 16th green’s oblong undulations, 2 Cromwell Road also lies within driving distance (yes, the golf kind) of North Berwick Golf Club’s 15th putting surface, widely regarded as world’s first redan-style green. Suffice to say, what it lacks in modern amenities — you’ll just have to install those smart thermostats yourself — it more than makes up for with history.

The post This Scottish estate with one of the “craziest” greens on Earth as a backyard could be yours for $2.9 million appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

“So much fun.”
“Loved that the bounce and roll of the ball after landing is part of almost every shot.”
“It’s just so different.”
“I wish we played more of this on tour.”

All have merit, of course, but not often are such comments accompanied by a genuine delight in what traditionalists view as “proper golf.” Too often points are missed, the player stuck when asked to elaborate beyond the obvious.

Then there is Max Homa.

Speaking two months before the 32-year-old makes what will be his second appearance in the Genesis Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club in East Lothian, Homa, not for the first time, revealed himself as the rare example of someone who truly “gets” the intricacies and pleasures of golf by the seaside.

Not a huge surprise. Last year, fighting jet-lag, Homa first walked the Renaissance with only a putter and a few balls for company. He also took time to watch other players and how they handled shots unfamiliar to his Californian instincts.

“The type of golf you have to play, encompasses a ton,” he said. “You obviously have to hit the ball well and putt the ball well, but you need to have a creative mind and creative short game. You need to be patient. It brings out a lot in the golfer who finishes on top. I appreciate that a lot. You have to be a complete golfer to get it done for four days. Especially when the weather comes in. Then you have to be gritty and tough and able to adjust to the conditions. It’s an all-encompassing test.”

Anyway, after opening with a brace of 71s, the World No. 6 took himself off to nearby North Berwick for some extra-curricular play. Playing through the lengthy gloaming that is an annual feature in the Home of Golf, Homa finished in near total darkness around 11pm. And it did him no harm. The following day he nipped round Renaissance in 66 en route to an eventual T-16 finish.

I never do this but I couldn’t pass up a round at North Berwick. Ever since I saw the @NoLayingUp vid years ago I knew it was special. Lives up to the hype! https://t.co/a7lA2aWllZ

— max homa (@maxhoma23) July 8, 2022

All of which added up to an experience Homa clearly regards as one of the most memorable, if not spiritual, of his golf life. Ten months on, the smile that immediately followed a reminder of that week was clear evidence of that fact.

“Living in Arizona, it’s not so easy to get a tee-time and make it out to North Berwick,” he said. “So when I was there I had to take advantage. It was on my bucket list for a long time. I’d always wanted to play, and so I had to make the most of it. This year, I’ll try to do something similar just because there’s just so much great golf in that area.”

On that score, Homa is also correct. Quite apart from the fact that Muirfield is next door, the Renaissance is all but surrounded by high-quality links. It’s a lengthy list that includes the likes of Gullane (Nos. 1, 2 and 3), Luffness, Longniddry, Kilspindie and, only a few miles distant, Dunbar.

“Last year, I was obviously trying to play and win a golf tournament,” continued Homa, returning to his theme. “But I’m also human. I want to have some human golf dork experiences. And it worked out. I played great the next day after playing North Berwick. Sometimes when you get that joy of doing something you wanted to do since you were a kid, that can make you find that love for golf, the invigoration that it gives you. So last year was a blast. It was really, really great golf course. And just a really fun day.”

His general impressions over with, Homa was asked for more specific examples of the pleasure he gained during his short, unscheduled expedition off campus. He didn’t hesitate.

“I do remember little things, like just how heavy and strong the wind is mixed with some of that cold,” he said. “One shot that blew my mind. The 16th, a short par 4, has a crazy green.”

For those unfamiliar, the putting surface sits at an angle to the fairway, is raised in front, has a dip in the middle and is high again at the back.

“I happened to hit a good drive and it was in the most boring easy spot,” Homa said. “If it was in a golf tournament I would’ve been happy. But I was frustrated that day because my caddie Joe hit it short left and from 30 yards hit a 5-iron that bounced like four times went up and over, down and up again. It looked awesome. My coach had to hit like a hooking 8-iron from the right. I was very jealous of them getting to try something like that. But there’s so many different shots than what we normally hit. I just find that a lot of fun.”

Far from done, Homa’s active mind moved across the Firth of Forth to St Andrews and last year’s Open Championship. Over an Old Course he was seeing for the first time, the LA native played the first two rounds alongside Tiger Woods and US Open champion, Matt Fitzpatrick.

Max Homa and Matt Fitzpatrick hang back as Tiger Woods crosses the Swilcan Bridge at last year’s Open Championship at St Andrews. David Cannon

“The first day our round took six hours and 15 minutes,” said Homa. “We waited on every hole. All the crossing and everything slowed us down. We were on the 14th hole for like 50 minutes. I was talking to Matt, saying how weird of a day it was. I just never played a round longer. But we both agreed that it would have been a lot more frustrating if we weren’t playing with Tiger at St Andrews.

“Tiger didn’t play great but he had a few shots that, I don’t know how to explain them I guess, but you could just tell how much talent is in his hands,” continued Homa, diving into a description every golfer who has seen Woods on a course that calls for strategic nous more than just power can relate to. “It was so impressive. And his grind. The story we usually tell is on 17 on Friday. He couldn’t make the cut, and he had like an eight footer for par. To anybody in the world that meant nothing, but he called Joe LaCava to help read it and buried it. Right there it was just all those stories you hear about grinding and how much he cares about each and every shot.”

Oh, but he wasn’t done there.

“Watching Tiger walk up the last hole Friday with the heroes welcome was amazing,” Homa went on. “We obviously play to compete and win and it was a bummer of a week for me, but that memory is pretty awesome. I’ll tell my kid about that, and anybody who will listen, how fun that was. Every once in a while you get really lucky to be at the right place at the right time. I felt like I was that week. It was so cool to see that up close.”

It surely was. As is listening to Max Homa talk golf and golfers. He is a man who paints vivid pictures.

The post Max Homa recalls the time he went all ‘golf geek’ in Scotland appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Blackford in Perth is a town with a population of fewer than 1,000 people. Set in a valley alongside the Gleneagles estate, it is known largely for one reason: It’s the home to Highland Spring, the UK’s leading bottled water company.

It is also home to a championship golf course. Walk around any of Gleneagles courses and you’ll see it. You’ll see the bunker faces, you’ll see the greensites and the tees, you’ll even see the clubhouse.

However, you likely haven’t heard of it and it’s very likely you won’t have played it. No one has. Hence why it has become known as “Scotland’s Ghost Course.”

But how and why? We’ll get there.

Highland Spring is owned by Mahdi Al Tajir, a businessman from the UAE, who once claimed in the 1970s to be the richest man in the world. As recently as 2010, his net worth is believed to be around $2 billion. As well as the water company, he trades in metal, oil and gas and has an extensive property portfolio that includes London’s Park Tower Hotel. Al Tajir also has a love for silver and once bought a silver chandelier at auction for $2.6 million.

When he bought the Blackford estate and a large house on it, he says he was unaware of the potential he was sitting, or rather living, on. The springs of water on the 25,000-acre property are home to fresh, Scottish water, and the story goes that he immediately saw the potential in bottling it and selling it. To many Scots that would be seen as selling ice to Eskimos as the country takes pride in its clean, drinkable tap water. However, Al Tajir pursued the idea and in 2021 the company’s sales were more than $10 million.

Having created yet another fortune in Scotland, Al Tajir was keen to invest more in the country. Having undoubtedly seen the success of neighbouring Gleneagles, known as “the playground for the rich and famous”, his plan was to develop a similarly lavish project consisting of a six-star hotel, around 200 homes of values up to $4 million and yes, of course, a championship golf course.

The project was to be named gWest.

Not afraid to invest in the best, Al Tajir hired David McLay Kidd to design the course. Kidd had recently finished work on Bandon Dunes and was in the middle of opening the Castle Course at St Andrews. He was young, ambitious and just what Al Tajir believed gWest needed.

Kidd would describe the Blackford estate as “without question, the best inland site I’ve ever seen for a golf course”.

It was even complemented with a bold, new clubhouse. Known by locals as “The Mosque” for its domed design, it was inspired by Colen Campbell, a noted 18th-century Scottish architect, and was created by GAJ architects, whose other works include the striking clubhouse at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club. gWest’s website says “the design focuses on symmetry, with terraces on all four sides to maximise enjoyment of the impressive views.”

The strange thing is that view does not include golfers.

Despite the exhaustive process and efforts to build the course, the bold clubhouse and even the full-time maintenance stuff, the course is not open. It has never opened.

The family has cited various reasons in interviews for not fully developing gWest and opening the course, from Brexit to financial crashes and political reasoning. However, the 7,300-yard layout remains intact. It remains maintained. Yet, it remains closed.

Other than the course’s website, which greets you with a title of “Scotland’s best kept secret,” the only known rounds to have been played at the Ghost Course were by the family, particularly Mohsin Al Tajir, son of Mahdi. He told a BBC podcast he’s played the course several times and described it as a “modern” layout, further explaining he doesn’t enjoy overly hard or challenging architecture.

As to the ending of this ghost story and where it might lead?

Mohsin says “eventually when the economy picks up in Scotland and we can see what is happening in the future, we will develop it properly.”

So, for now, that is where our story ends. However, stay tuned for the sequel when “Scotland’s Ghost Course” may indeed come to life.

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The post Scotland’s Ghost Course with UAE links remains one of golf’s modern mysteries appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

In the sort of weather — strong winds and sideways rain — that grounds seagulls and keeps even the hardiest Scots indoors, scores typically soared.

One day after shooting a course record-tying 61 at St. Andrews, Frenchman Romain Langasque staggered off Carnoustie having expended 19 shots more.

Former US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy’s bogey-free 66 on Day 1 almost turned into a birdie-free 76 on Day 2. Only once, at the par-5 fifth on the Old Course, did the Australian dip under par amid his five dropped shots.

Rory McIlroy tries to manage the elements while playing at Kingsbarns on Friday. David Cannon

Other notables also struggled too as officials had the whole field playing in a shotgun start on the three courses. Rory McIlroy’s 75 at Kingsbarns has the World No. 2 nine shots off the lead with his one-under-par total. US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick is but one stroke better after a 71 on the same course, although the Englishman has the slight consolation of being one of only eight men to have broken par in both rounds (American Billy Horschel is another). Not that such a fact seemed to be cheering him up any.

“Miserable, wet, cold, windy, it was absolutely horrible,” said Fitzpatrick, whose partner in the team competition is his mother, Susan. “Top-three worst conditions for sure, absolutely certain of that.”

Somebody please get Jamie Donaldson a new umbrella ? #DunhillLinks

(?dpworldtour) pic.twitter.com/dsUJN6JmhO

— National Club Golfer (@NCG_com) September 30, 2022

The worst score of the day, however, was the 88 posted by Alexander Knappe at the Old Course. Starting at the par-5 14th, the German made his opening par safely, but then needed 23 shots (6-9-8) to complete the next three holes. Out of sequence, he actually played the front-nine in a level-par 36, before roaring home in 52. Still, Knappe was far from alone in his despair. As many as 34 other professionals failed to break 80.

Inevitably, as is always the case where world-class players are concerned, there were those who prospered. But even then it wasn’t much fun.

“It got to a point where it wasn’t even golf,” said Robert MacIntyre, the Scotsman’s 70 at Kingsbarns hauling him up to a tie for sixth place on six-under, four shots back of Mansell. “It was just the best attitude got you through the game, and today I was playing with somebody I get on really well with in Tyrrell [Hatton]. We just had a laugh. But I’m soaked through. I’ve got water in my shoes. I just poked it around. It was a day when you couldn’t be perfect. It was just about being mediocre and making sure you didn’t make a big mistake.”

Speaking of Hatton, his “attitude” toward the conditions came with the two-time Dunhill winner’s usual bit of sarcasm as he was interviewed on the broadcast during the round.

.@timbartergolf "Obvious first question, describe playing conditions for us?":@TyrrellHatton: "Truly miserable." ?#DunhillLinks pic.twitter.com/7DVGAPuYjY

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) September 30, 2022

In second place on eight-under, Alex Noren nipped McIntyre by a shot and joined Mansell and Alex Fitzpatrick (younger brother of Matt) as the only men to break 70. And yes, the Swede was equally breathless at the end of what was basically a test of endurance as much as golf.

“I love wind, but I hate this rain, even though I played well,” said the former European Ryder Cup player. “I just had to trust that I could actually play golf because I couldn’t feel my hands. I couldn’t do anything other than try to keep the ball low, even downwind. Just keep it low was my aim, that and try not to be a hero.”

Even a hole-in-one on the par-3 eighth wasn’t doing much to lighten Eddie Pepperell’s mood after a 74 at Kingsbarns.

“The worst ever,” he said of the conditions. “I don’t think we’ve ever played in stuff as difficult as that. It was just brutal.”

Antoine Rozner went even further after adding a commendable 74 at Kingsbarns to the startling 63 he shot over the Old Course on day one.

“I’m very proud of myself because it was such a grind,” said the Frenchman, who sits three off Mansell’s pace. “It was probably one of the worst days of my life.”

Ah, but we can always rely on Padraig Harrington to come up with a contrary view. Ever perverse, the former Open champion was all smiles at the end of his 71 at Kingsbarns.

“It was tough out there, but it wasn’t that windy and it obviously wasn’t cold,” claimed the Irishman, who is six shots back on four-under. “You just had to keep your head in the game all the time. Like everybody, I made a few mistakes, but I also holed a few putts which you need it do on a bad day.”

One last thing. Just to rub in the misery endured by the competitors (other than Harrington), the sun came out just as the last few groups were finishing. Welcome to Scotland everyone.

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After being level on 10-under-par with Korea’s In Gee Chun after 72 holes, it took four holes to separate the duo. It was a par on the fourth playoff hole, after a magnificent bunker shot, which saw Buhai secure her first LPGA Tour title and the AIG Women’s Open crown.

Watch the highlights below:

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Scotland’s national open was won this year by Olympic champion Xander Schauffele, securing a one shot victory from fellow American Kurt Kitayama.

Founded in 2008, The Renaissance Club sits on 300 acres along the Firth of Forth and is one of the newest additions to the world-famous stretch known as Scotland’s Golf Coast.

Keith Pelley, DP World Tour Chief Executive, said: “The Renaissance Club has proved to be a wonderful home for Scotland’s national open over the past four years, and we are delighted to extend our stay in East Lothian through to 2026.”

Jerry Sarvadi, CEO, The Renaissance Club, aded: “The Renaissance Club is extremely pleased to confirm our partnership with Genesis, the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour, to host the Genesis Scottish Open for the next four years. As we continue these relationships, The Renaissance Club, along with our architect, Tom Doak and our player consultant Padraig Harrington, will strive to improve our golf course and our facilities to better the event experience for all participants, our members and their guests and general public spectators.

“The 2022 event was truly spectacular, with 14 of the top 15 in the world rankings participating and world No. 6 Xander Schauffele winning with a score of seven-under par.”

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