DP World Tour : Alfred Dunhill Links Championship Weather Leaderboard
Home favourite Robert MacIntyre continued his dream fortnight as he became the first Scottish winner of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship since 2005 a week after helping Europe to Ryder Cup victory.
Fresh from playing a huge part in Luke Donald's side's famous away win over the U.S. at Bethpage Black, MacIntyre returned to home soil to take on Carnoustie Golf Links, Kingsbarns Golf Links and The Old Course, St Andrews in this unique event.
With the tournament being reduced to 54 holes following weather interruptions on Friday and Saturday, early starter MacIntyre played his third and final round on The Old Course on Sunday and flew out of the blocks, notching six birdies over the first 13 holes to move five strokes clear at the top of the leaderboard.
The World Number Nine then mixed a birdie at the 16th with a bogey on the 17th before having to settle for a tap-in par on the last to sign for a closing -6 66 and set the clubhouse target at -18.
The Scot faced an anxious wait as several players in the chasing pack made their way down the stretch but no-one was able to catch MacIntyre and, around 90 minutes after holing his final putt, he was able to celebrate a four-shot victory and his fourth DP World Tour title in all.
Scottish players enjoyed great success in the event’s early years following its inclusion on the DP World Tour in 2001, with Paul Lawrie, Stephen Gallacher and Colin Montgomerie lifting the trophy in three of its first five editions.
But the last of those home victories came 20 years ago before MacIntyre claimed his second title in Scotland on the DP World Tour following last year's Genesis Scottish Open win, which had also seen him replace Montgomerie as the most recent Scottish winner.
MacIntyre's Ryder Cup team-mate Tyrrell Hatton finished alone in second on -14 following his Sunday 65 on The Old Course, with South Africa's Richard Sterne and Englishman John Parry another shot back at -13.
MacIntyre said: "Unbelievable. Any time you can win a golf tournament on these shores is special. But I'm just delighted with the way I've done it.
"I've played really nice over the three days (66 66 66) and here we are.
"I don't know how we're going to celebrate after the celebration we had last Sunday! We'll try our best. I don't know if it'll be tonight but it'll be over the next couple of weeks.
"We'll have a nice celebration. Any time you can win, it's difficult to win. It's just a beautiful ending to a good week."
He is now ranked #8 in owgr.
Harrison Crowe and Cian Foley won the team event on 33 under par following scores of 62, 58 and 63 across the three rounds.
europeantour.com
Bryan Angus
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