Rickie Fowler in great position for back-to-back Gullane glory

Rickie Fowler says he is ‘looking forward to the challenge’ of trying to repeat his 2015 Scottish Open victory at Gullane in tomorrow’s final round of the same tournament at the same East Lothian club.

The American carded a two-under 68 in breezy conditions to sit on 12-under-par, one shot off the 54-hole lead held by Sweden’s Jens Dantorp.

Fowler is one of six players on 12-under, with a further ten players – including Scotland’s Russell Knox – within three shots of the lead.

Fowler, who pipped fellow American Matt Kuchar down the stretch at Gullane three years ago, says he is hoping for a similar outcome tomorrow.

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“We’re right where we wanted to be, so I’m looking forward to it,” said the 29-year-old, who is an incredible 24-under-par for his seven competitive rounds on the course. “I’ve had success here before. Obviously played a lot of good golf around this place. I enjoy playing Gullane. It suits my eye and my game. We’ve got a jam-packed leaderboard. Nothing is going to be easy tomorrow, so going to have to go out and earn it. Looking forward to the challenge.”

Meanwhile, Knox – looking to make it back-to-back wins following his tense victory in last week’s Irish Open – says it would be a ‘dream come true’ to triumph in front of a home crowd tomorrow.

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“Other than winning a major, this is right up there with the tournament you really want to win the most,” he said. “Winning your home Open is a massive goal. I watched Rory do it a few years ago in Ireland, which was cool.

“We’ll see. I’m obviously in decent position and I’m playing well, so I’m going to give it 100 per cent tomorrow.”

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