Stone in search of more Scottish glory at Dunhill Links
[Tuesday, October 2, 2018 11:21:34]Reigning Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open champion Brandon Stone will relish teeing it up at St Andrews for the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship this week with memories of his July victory at Gullane Golf Club still fresh in his mind.
Stone fired in a title-winning 10-under-par 60 final round at Gullane to rubberstamp a solid three days of golf in which he shot rounds of 70, 64 and 66 before the final round. That bogey-free 60 was his best tournament score.
He finished in a share of 15th in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship last season at 11-under-par 277 and 13 shots behind England’s Tyrell Hatton who was winning it for the second time in a row, a result he will want to improve on. Now going to the Home of Golf on the back of some decent results in the US PGA Championship and the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, coupled with the fact that he recently got married after he placed 10th in his first Sunshine Tour start this season at Arabella, and you have a player with all the ingredients to do well.
But then again, the Old Course at St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns have been known to punish any careless player severely, and Stone knows this first-hand from his own experiences there. He tied 61st at the 147th The Open which was played at Carnoustie, one of the venues for this week’s tournament.
His opening rounds of 68 and 72 looked solid enough to see him challenge for victory on the weekend, only to be undone by a 73 in round three and a final round 77. Whatever the result, however, following his July 12 victory at Gullane, Stone showed an understanding of how to play links golf courses, and as he returns there this week, he will surely have some sort of confidence about him.
Currently sitting 15th on the Race to Dubai, and already confirmed for the Nedbank Golf Challenge hosted by Gary Player at Sun City, and set to defend his Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek in December, Stone is in the right space and frame of mind and should be ready to challenge again.