Scottish amateur Calum Scott has won the Silver Medal at the 152nd Open Championship.
The 20-year-old navigated a particularly nervy end to his final round at Royal Troon – where he carded five bogeys on the back nine to sign for a 76 and finish eight-over for the Championship.
Yet, he was still three shots ahead of his nearest unpaid rival and ultimately picked up the prestigious award for the leading amateur who makes the cut.
Scott was one of only four amateurs to play the weekend this year, with American Tommy Morrison and Danish player Jacob Skov Olesen closest to him on 11-over. Spaniard Luis Masaveu completed the Silver-Medal-chasing quartet but ended 78th on 18-over for the Championship.
The man from Nairn opened up with a level-par round of 70 on Thursday before hanging on via a 75 on Friday as several huge names missed the cut at Royal Troon.
He took advantage of an early tee time on Saturday, though, with particularly horrible weather conditions badly affecting the latter groups and dragging the leaders back in. Scott went out in the morning and carded three birdies with just two bogeys to put himself in a commanding position for the Silver Medal.
A bogey on the par-3 fifth on Sunday was quickly corrected with a birdie on the par-4 seventh to make the turn at even, but it was there that the Texas Tech man’s nerves began to fray somewhat.
Between holes 11 and 15, the former Walker Cup representative made bogey four times and began to slip closer and closer to Olesen and Morrison in a tie for 60th.
Yet, there was only one further dropped shot to come – on 17 – and an emotional Scott was invited to soak up the rapturous applause of the galleries as he wandered down 18 to two-putt for a closing par.
The current World No.13 amateur – who follows South Africa’s Christo Lamprecht in obtaining the Silver Medal at The Open – made it through to Royal Troon after winning the Open Amateur Qualifying Series – a block of tournaments that comprised of the St Andrews Links, Amateur Championship, and European Amateur Championship.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Despite going out at the quarter-final stage of The Amateur to Olesen, Scott managed a second and fourth-place finish at the St Andrews Links and European Amateur, respectively to claim the overall spoils.
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