David Wilson does wonders at Scottish Boys' Championship

In an astonishing final on a bright but breezy day on the East Lothian coast, the 16-year-old Troon Welbeck player still had a mountain to climb when he was seven down with 14 holes to play, but left his opponent feeling like Rory McIlroy did at Augusta last Sunday as he pulled off an unlikely victory.

"At lunch, I knew there was still a long way to go and, even when I went seven down again, I felt that if I could get a couple of holes back to get momentum going I could push him," said Wilson, who was three-under for his second round as he followed in the footsteps of two of his clubmates, Andrew McQueen (1985) and Michael Stewart (2008), by lifting the title.

Johnston, an 18-year-old seeded player from Dumfries & County, looked to be cruising to victory when, thanks to a five-hole winning burst from the ninth in the morning round, he led by eight up as the pair boarded the 16th tee, having chipped in for a birdie at the previous hole.

However, two consecutive poor shots from Johnston - he found the beach at the 17th - offered Wilson a glimmer of hope, though even when Johnston three-putted from 25 feet at the 18th and had to settle for a half, he still appeared to be firmly in control.

Indeed, if Wilson believed a change of shirt would bring a change of luck - the blue Troon Welbeck team shirt he'd promised he'd wear if he made the final had been swapped for a Tiger Woods-type red one for the afternoon - the young Ayrshireman probably thought, initially at least, that may not be the case.

Emulating a feat achieved by his opponent in the morning - with the wind at their backs, the 353-yard par-4 fourth was made to look ridiculously straightforward - Wilson found the middle of the putting surface with his drive while Johnston found the right greenside bunker.

However, in one of those classic match-play situations, Johnston almost holed his shot from the sand - it was only hitting the pin that stopped the ball from dropping - before Wilson, who raced his first putt past the hole, missed the next one from six feet to fall seven down. It seemed to be a damage limitation exercise for the underdog at that point only for a rare error from Johnston, who chose the putter as his third option for a tricky shot over a dip at the front of the fifth, the 23rd, and made a mess of it, opened the door again, allowing Wilson to start chipping away at the deficit.He won the next as well after Johnston found sand again, got it back to four down with a 20-foot birdie at the 26th and was really starting to crank up the pressure when a 4 at the long ninth also won him the 27th hole of the contest. Johnston's grip on the title was loosened further when he ran up a 6 after straying on the beach with his second at the 30th and, incredibly, his lead was back down to just one when Wilson also won the 32nd. Johnston went two up again with a par at the next, but three-putted the 35th, where Wilson holed from ten feet to stay alive, and also lost the 36th to a par.

In the first final to go into extra-time since Andrew Coltart lifted the title at the same venue in 1987, Johnston was unable to convert a 12-foot eagle attempt - his third chance to seal victory - at the 37th and Wilson won it at the next with a par-5. "The three-putt at the 17th was my downfall but I still take a lot of positives from the week," said a commendably chirpy Johnston afterwards.