Looked to be heading back to the Qualifying School until a tied third place finish at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, a few miles from his home town of Anstruther, earned him enough to secure his playing rights for 2012. Also finished runner-up in the Alfred Dunhill Championship to end the season 81st in The Race to Dubai, a long way from the dark days of 2008 when he feared a back injury would end his career. He was rewarded for listening to some sound advice from Stuart Barton, the former British Lions and Scotland physiotherapist. He explained: “I had a bulging disc, and one of the doctors wanted to operate on it. But Stuart advised against it, and he’s been proved 100% right. He said I should have a steroid injection into the disc, and it’s been great ever since.” After an impressive amateur career – which took in two appearances at the Eisenhower Trophy in 2004 and 2006, when he played alongside fellow European Tour Members Scott Jamieson and Richie Ramsay – he turned professional just before the 2006 Qualifying School Final Stage, where he made the cut to earn his first full season on the Challenge Tour. Achieved moderate success over the next three seasons, before triumphing in the 2010 Scottish Hydro Challenge, which helped him finish tenth in the Rankings and graduate to The European Tour.