13/08/12
Daniel Young, a student at Lynn University in the US, clinched his second SGU Order of Merit title of the season to become the Leven Gold Medal champion.
The Craigie Hill golfer from Perth, who celebrates his 21st birthday later this month, posted a five-under par aggregate of 279 to win by two shots from former Scottish Amateur champion Graham Gordon (Newmacher).
An excellent 67 in the third round gave him a five-shot cushion going into the final round and despite finishing with a two-over 73, Young underlined his growing promise to become the first player to win two events on the domestic circuit this year.
Young, who earlier this season won Cameron Corbett Vase, opened with rounds of 69 and 70 to sit in second place overnight, a shot behind James Ross, who fired a first round 67 followed by a level par 71. Ross, also a winner on the SGU Order of Merit circuit in 2012, slipped back with a damaging 78 in round three, eventually settling for fifth spot on 292, eight-over par.
Gordon, who won the national title at The Duke’s in 2003, produced some fine golf on the Sunday to close with rounds of 68 and 69 to clinch the runner-up spot, a shot clear of Dollar’s Scott Borrowman (72-7-69-71), who’s third place finish boosts his challenge for this season’s SGU Order of Merit title race ahead of his full Scotland debut in this week’s Home Internationals.
Whitecraig’s Gordon Stevenson, who reached the last 16 of the recent Scottish Amateur Championship, was in fourth on 289, which included a best of the week five-under par 66 in Sunday morning’s third round.
>> Click here for results from the Leven Gold Medal, Leven Golfing Society.
O’Hara Lands Top Five Finish in Norway
Motherwell’s Steven O’Hara gave himself a confidence boost ahead of the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles with a share of fourth place in the Norwegian Challenge.
The former Scottish Amateur champion, who has struggled for form on the European Tour this season, took a step down onto the second tier and took full advantage to post a superb 20-under par aggregate of 268 (67, 67, 69, 65) to join former Ryder Cup player Oliver Wilson in the group just two shots behind winner Kristoffer Broberg.
The 32-year-old, currently 178th in the Race to Dubai standings, who has enjoyed a number of good finishes on the PGA Centenary course, was pleased with his week’s efforts:
“It’s nice to finish a week off properly. In the last few months I've been getting in a good position and then having a bad weekend or a bad last round so it’s nice to finish well. It’s good for the confidence.
“I'm going to play Challenge Tour in Denmark next week and then The European Tour in Gleneagles so hopefully I can get more confidence next week ahead of Gleneagles because that’s a course I always play well on and it would be nice to go in positive form.
“Sometimes taking this step down is good. It gets you making birdies and shooting good scores again whereas on The European Tour sometimes level par is a good score so it’s nice to shoot low.”