Michael Stewart: The Open’s answer to Michael Block is quietly writing his own fairytale

Not every prize is as tangible as the silver and green of trophies and money. Some exist in the abstract grey space of satisfaction and sentiment.

And so it goes for Michael Stewart in the final round of The 151st Open. The 33-year-old has had a dream week on the Wirral, not only playing in his first major but playing well. Exceptionally well, you might say.

Rounds of 68 and 73 eased him through to the weekend before a Saturday 71 left him one-under – alongside reigning champion Cameron Smith and former winners Henrik Stenson and Stewart Cink – as dawn broke on Sunday.

Muscle his way into the top-10 by close of play and Stewart will – if recent qualification criteria continues to be upheld – guarantee his involvement in next year’s championship in Troon.

His home town.

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“Obviously, I would love to play again,” he said. “The experience has been better than I could ever have imagined.

“I was saying to my caddie, you get used to the Challenge Tour where you have like four or five guys and a dog that come out and watch. You don’t have to wait for Rory McIlroy behind you to hit a shot for the crowd to applaud or whatever.

“It was a cool experience today playing in front of him. He came out of the gym as I was going in and I thought, ‘That’s Rory McIlroy’. Jon Rahm was walking out as well. It’s cool you’re playing the same event as these guys.”

Stewart’s story might not have attracted the same wall-to-wall coverage as Michael Block at the US PGA but it’s arguably far more compelling.

A former Walker Cup contemporary of Jordan Spieth, Patrick Cantlay and Harris English, he struggled to establish himself in the paid ranks after turning pro in 2011, toiling on various developmental tours for the better part of a decade

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When the pandemic struck, and with next-to-no golf to play, he spent a year working as a forklift operator for a company making hand sanitisers before, finally, his luck changed last September.

Victory in the Scottish Masters on the EuroPro Tour assured him of a top-five finish on the circuit’s Order of Merit, and not a moment too soon. The tour, an umbilical cord to the hopes and dreams of countless young and not-so-young professionals, folded weeks later.

Largely by dint of his win at Leven Links, Stewart was jettisoned to the relative safety of the Challenge Tour.

After 13 events this year, he’s 72nd on the Order of Merit and in need of a strong finish to retain his playing rights. If holding his own in the company of the world’s best players doesn’t imbue confidence, it’s reasonable to wonder what will.

“Obviously, you reflect and go, this may have not been your career at one stage, but I also now think there’s nothing else that I can do,” he added. “It’s one of those really strange ones.

“Honestly, I’m just trying to soak it all in.”

Who can blame him?

Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor