Brandon Stone seals Scottish Open but narrowly misses out on making history

His eight-foot birdie putt for a first-ever 59 on the European Tour might have burned the edge but Brandon Stone won’t care.

The 25-year-old South African’s sensational ten-under 60 saw him defy pre-tournament odds of 1,000-to-1 to win the Scottish Open at Gullane and, in so doing, secure a place in next week’s Open Championship. 

Eight birdies and an eagle helped Stone secure his third European Tour title on a low-scoring final day on Scotland’s Golf Coast.

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Only 23 of the 66 players who pegged it up in the last round failed to break par. However, none could match Stone’s heroics as he scythed through the field to record a four-shot win from England’s Eddie Pepperell, with Luke List, Trevor Immelman and Jens Dantorp sharing third a shot further back. 

Afterwards, an elated Stone described the win as ‘incredible’.

“If I’m going to be brutally honest, I had no idea what my score was until I walked on the 13th green,” he said. 

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“It was just one of those days where everything went well, hit it great, holed some beautiful putts, and obviously to walk away with 60 having missed an eight-footer was a slight disappointment, but I won’t really complain.”

His next priority? Arranging digs for next week’s Open at Carnoustie.

“Hopefully I can find accommodation – I wasn’t exactly planning on going through,” he added.

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Some of Stone’s fellow South African golfers were amongst the first to congratulate him on Twitter after his first win since the Alfred Dunhill Championship in December 2016.

In other news, a crowd of 63,400 turned out across the week, eclipsing the attendance of 2015, when the Scottish Open last visited Gullane.

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