Luke Donald captured his third victory of 2011 at last year's Scottish Open. Here, in an excerpt from The European Tour Yearbook 2012, we recap how the Englishman withstood the weather to emerge triumphant from Castle Stuart.
It might not have been quite the home victory the crowds were hoping for but the knowledgeable Scottish galleries nevertheless appreciated the tartan trousers sported by Luke Donald on the final day as he continued a truly glorious 2011 season with victory in the Barclays Scottish Open.
With Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond in attendance, the 33 year old Englishman closed with a flawless 63 on the magnificent Castle Stuart Golf Links to the east of Inverness for a 19 under par total of 197 and a four shot winning margin from Sweden’s Fredrik Andersson Hed who stormed through the field with a superb final day 62.
The tournament had been cut to 54 holes after unprecedented downpours in the Inverness area – double the average monthly amount of rainfall in a single day – washed out play altogether on the Saturday. However, it spoke volumes for the tenacity and teamwork of everyone connected with the championship that everything was back in place for Sunday’s denouement that saw Donald card the lowest round of his European Tour career to firmly cement his place not only in pole position in The Race to Dubai, but also as Number One on the Official World Golf Ranking.
Seven players shared third place on 14 under par 202, among their number, two time Major Champion Angel Cabrera. But the happiest of this group was Scotland’s own Scott Jamieson who claimed the final spot up for grabs in the following week’s Open Championship at Royal St George’s.
To order your copy of The European Tour Yearbook 2012, a 240-page, full colour hardback Official Publication with iconic pictures by Getty Images and essays from some of the game's top writers that takes you every step of the way through 52 tournaments and 29 destinations on The 2011 Race to Dubai, click here.
