Scott Jamieson’s excellent start to his rookie season on The European Tour has been rewarded with a place in this week’s £4.5million BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club.
Jamieson won his Tour card through the Challenge Tour Rankings last year and his outstanding start to the season, which includes a sixth place finish at the Joburg Open, fifth in Sicily and third in the recent Open de España, meant that he was the highest earning player in The Race to Dubai who was not exempt to the BMW PGA Championship.
With two invitations to the Tour’s flagship event held back for the top two non-exempt players in The Race to Dubai (the other invitation was ‘won’ by Jaco Van Zyl), Jamieson was a happy man when his phone rang on Sunday evening.
“The Tour called me last night to confirm the invite which was a very nice call to take,” smiled Jamieson, who travelled south to practise at Wentworth on Sunday. “I kind of knew that I had done enough to get into the tournament but it was still good to hear the confirmation.
“The BMW PGA Championship is easily the biggest event I will have ever been involved in. I actually spoke to my dad who had checked the Tour website to see if I had got in and he saw my name on the Entry List.
“He called me and said ‘I see you are in’, so I went onto the website myself to check my name was there and it was only then when I realised how big the tournament is. You just have to look at the names on the list to see that you are involved in a big, big event.
“We have the four holders of the Majors at Wentworth this week, the top two in the world and then so many other big names. Ernie Els is one that really stands out for me just because of his history at Wentworth and his standing in the game.”
Less than two years ago the Scotsman was plying his trade on the third level EuroPro Tour but his level of performance there, and then on last year’s Challenge Tour, have ensured the 27 year old has accelerated through the ranks.
“I suppose it does show how far I have come in a short couple of years. I have managed to come through the system pretty quickly – I think the only way I could have made it to The European Tour any faster was to win three Challenge Tour events in one season – and getting into the BMW PGA is a very nice reward.”
Jamieson's excellent start to the year also saw him top the first re-rank of the season, when the 43 eligible players in Category 11 of the Tour’s Membership (who either finished in positions 11-20 in the 2010 Challenge Tour Rankings or graduated from the 2010 Qualifying School) are re-ranked by their level of performance during the first half of the season.
With earnings of €227,982 already on The 2011 Race to Dubai, Jamieson moved to the top of Category 11, meaning he will have a better chance of gaining entry to many of the Tour’s lucrative summer events.
“It’s great to top the re-rank,” said Jamieson. “It means I have a better chance of getting into tournaments like the Scottish and French Open which are massive events.
“Things are going well for me at the moment and it looks like I have already done enough to keep my card for next year which was my immediate goal at the start of the season. I would love to win the Rookie of the Year Award and get into the Dubai World Championship at the end of the season. If I can do that then that means I’ll be among the top 60 players on Tour which is exactly where I want to be.”
