Ryan Campbell lands first pro win on Tartan Pro Tour at Blairgowrie

Ryan Campbell picturd after winning the Blairgowrie Perthshire Masters on the Tartan Pro Tour.

Ryan Campbell proved his game has been better than a disappointing season on the PGA EuroPro Tour suggested by winning the Blairgowrie Perthshire Masters, the latest event on the Tartan Pro Tour.

The 29-year-old followed a five-under 67 on the Lansdowne course with a four-under 68 on the Rosemount course to land his first professional victory, earning a £3,700 top prize for the feat on Paul Lawrie’s circuit for Scottish-based players.

Campbell won by a shot from Daniel Young as the Kingsbarns Links-attached player produced another strong performance on the back of his triumph in last week’s St Andrews Classic, with five players a further shot back in a keenly-contested event.

“I played pretty solid,” said Campbell, who is originally from Falkirk but now lives in Crossgates in Fife. “Lansdowne is an amazing test off the tee, as is Rosemount, though it provides a few more scoring opportunities.

“There are four more events left on the Tartan Pro Tour this season, starting at Leven Links next week, and I definitely feel I have a bit of a spring back in my step after this performance.”

Campbell had built up a nice head of steam at this stage of the season two years ago, finishing 11th on the PGA EuroPro Tour Order of Merit on the back of five top-fives on the third-tier circuit.

But, like so many others below the European Tour and Challenge Tour, he was impacted by the 2020 campaign being a virtual write-off due to the Covid-19 pandemic and is now trying to make up for lost time.

“My results have been terrible on the EuroPro this year,” he said of losing his card after slipping to 83rd on the money-list. “I actually feel I played quite good, but I got in my own way when I became frustrated.

“Some of the set ups on the circuit are too easy for my liking whereas on the Tartan Pro Tour you have to play well from tee to green.”

As a reward for winning a place in Cobra Puma Golf NXT LVL Academy in 2019, Campbell made his European Tour debut in the ISPS Handa World Invitational presented by Modest! Golf Management at Galgorm Castle in Northern Ireland earlier this year.

“That was a bit of an eye-opener as I was thinking it would be on a completely different level,” he said. “But I played with Kristoger Broberg, who won recently in Holland, and Clement Sordet, who is another good player, and didn’t feel out of place at all.

“I’m not necessarily saying I could win at that level, but I feel if I could play on there for a year, I feel I would do okay.”

Campbell, who, like Lawrie, is coached by Alan McCloskey, has an attachment to The Renaissance Club and said of being able to play and practice at the Scottish Open: “It is brilliant.

“I think there are 10 or 11 of us down there, including a couple of main tour guys, and what Jerry Sarvadi and Billy Peterson do for us is amazing.”

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