In 2018, Brandon Stone broke the course record at Gullane GC with a final round 60 to claim the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open by four shots.
Brandon Stone joined an elite list of champions on the final day of the 2018 Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open.
With a final round of 60, Stone tied the lowest final round by a winner in European Tour history – a record he shares with Jamie Spence (1992 Canon European Masters), Ian Woosnam (1999 Torres Monte Carlo Open), and Rafa Cabrera Bello (2009 Austrian Golf Open).
Stone’s memorable ten under par effort also made him just the 18th player at the time to card a round of 60 on the European Tour – Robert Rock achieved the feat at the 2019 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open – but it was a scorecard that could have been a shot better if not for a missed birdie chance at the last.
Having started the day three strokes behind, Stone quickly made up two shots on leader Jens Dantorp with back-to-back birdies on the first two holes.
With the scoreboard continually moving throughout the day, Stone then tapped in for a birdie four at the par five fifth and added another mid-range gain at the ninth to keep within touching distance at 14-under-par.
A stellar iron-play display underpinned Stone’s round, and he would go on to convert birdie putts at the 10th and 12th holes before rolling in a short one at the 14th to gain a share of the lead with Eddie Pepperell, and another on 15 to move out on his own for the first time.
It was a lead he built on immediately with a curling eagle putt from 30 feet at the 16th, a moment Stone knew was important.
“The putt on 16 is pretty much where you could say the tournament was won for me,” Said Stone.
“I felt great. I knew I just needed to make three more good swings, and when that thing went home, the emotions came flooding in. I had to really struggle to keep it in.”
Already at 20 under par, Stone needed to play the last two holes in one under to become the first person in European Tour history to card a 59 – a record since achieved by Oliver Fisher. His chance came on the 18th following a brilliant approach to inside ten feet, but the putt broke to the left in the last few seconds.
Yet while that particular slice of history slipped by the hole, Stone still claimed his third European Tour title with his name attached to the record books, and a round that many will remember for a long time.
“It's incredible,” Stone said at the time. “If I'm going to be brutally honest, I had no idea what my score was until I walked on to the 18th green.
“It was just one of those days where everything went well, hit it great, holed some beautiful putts, and obviously to walk away with 60 having missed an eight-footer was a slight disappointment, but I won't really complain.
“My caddie came up to me and said, you don't get putts like this too often, so I let him read it. I said as we walked on the green, I'm not reading this one. This is completely up to you.
“I rolled it over his mark, but he did criticize my pace, he said it lacked a little bit of pace. So he probably is right. Didn't hold its line, but we'll take it.”
