St Andrews Links Trophy won by Western Australian brought up in Fife
A breathtaking burst of scoring swept Australian Amateur champion Connor McKinney to victory in the St Andrews Links Trophy last night.
FORMAT 72-hole stroke play
The 19-year-old, who was born and brought up in Fife but has been living in Western Australia since he was 12, rattled off seven birdies in ten holes around the turn to eclipse fellow countryman Adam Brady and would eventually win by two shots on The Old Course.
McKinney, who had opened with an eight-under 64 on the Jubilee course on Friday, becomes only the second Australian to claim the title after Stuart Bouvier (1990).
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“Winning the Aussie Am was pretty special but win at the Home of Golf… you can’t ask for much more,” said the new champion last night after his closing 65.
“I struggled in the morning round and couldn’t really get anything going but finished strong with a birdie and that gave me some momentum playing this afternoon.”
McKinney also used the extra help gained by the plethora of stands and TV towers which are in place ahead of the 150th Open taking place at St Andrews next month.
“It was pretty cool picking all the lines off the tees…’OK I’ll start on this TV tower or whatever’ and I guess walking up 18 was pretty special.
“On the 18th tee I knew I was a couple ahead so it was ‘just knock it on the green in two and I should be able to handle it from there’.”
The teenager, who did represent Scotland in the Home Internationals in 2019 but is now committed to Australia, had no worries playing 18 after driving to within 70 yards of the green, then pitching up to 14 feet and just missing the birdie putt.
He had started the final round three behind Brady and one back of Ireland international Robert Moran and England regular Arron Edwards-Hill (Chelmsford).
And Brady looked in no mood to relinquish his lead as he birdied three and four to get to 14 under par.
However McKinney started his charge at five and would also birdie seven, eight, 10, 12, 13 and 14 to take the lead on 17 under.
Moran also birdied 12, 13 and 14 to get to 15 under but a bogey on 15 and double on 17 put him out of the reckoning.
Brady doubled 16 to drop four back and despite an excellent three at The Road Hole, he could not bridge the gap on his Australian teammate, who bogeyed the 17th to fall back to 16 under and he would finish on that score for a 272 total.