Golf

It’s a long way off, I know, but the two European Tour events since the 42nd Ryder Cup have already shown that more Tommy Fleetwoods are ready to step up to the plate in the next instalment of the transatlantic tussle at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin in 2020.

Eddie Pepperell defied miserable conditions with a little help from his mum to win his second European Tour title of the season in the British Masters – and with it a different Masters appearance next April.

Grant Forrest has joined Liam Johnston in securing a European Tour card for 2019 after jumping to seventh in the Road to Ras Al Khaimah rankings by finishing runner-up in the Hainan Open.

Chris Kelly is playing down his chances of emulating some of the greats in Scottish golf by landing a fourth title triumph in the M&H Logistics Scottish PGA Championship, writes Martin Dempster.

Eddie Pepperell will take a three-shot lead into the final day of the British Masters as he seeks the second European Tour title of his career – and with it a likely Masters appearance next April.

Scotland’s Gary Orr clinched the Paris Legends Championship to record back-to-back victories on the Staysure Seniors Tour after carding a final round of 68.

A spectacular hole-in-one helped Eddie Pepperell claim a share of the lead with Ryder Cup star Tommy Fleetwood and Matt Wallace after the opening round of the £3 million British Masters.

Grant Forrest posted a career-best ten-under-par 62 at Sanya Luhuitou Golf Club to lead the Hainan Open by three shots after the first round in China.

Thomas Bjorn believes there is no need to rush into naming his successor as Ryder Cup captain, even if Padraig Harrington appears certain to be handed the role.

Padraig Harrington’s hopes of succeeding Thomas Bjorn as Europe’s Ryder Cup captaincy at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin in 2020 have received a significant boost after the Irishman’s credentials were endorsed by the world No 2, Justin Rose.

Two leading figures in the group calling itself “The Requisitionists” have called for an end to divisions around Scottish Golf in the wake of the governing body getting the green light to increase an affiliation fee paid by club members.

They sure are “Great Danes”. World champions in both the professional and amateur games, a winning Ryder Cup captain and player and now a second Alfred Dunhill Links Championship success in four years.

George Heriot’s have won the Grafton Morrish, the major trophy up for grabs in the Public Schools Old Boys Golf Association, for the first time since 2009, writes Martin Dempster.

Start at the top and this season’s Race to Dubai looks encouraging from a Scottish perspective. Russell Knox, after all, is sitting ninth in the standings and the fact all eight players ahead of him were involved in the recent Ryder Cup is an indication of the Invernesian having done his bit this year in flying the Saltire on the European Tour.

Stephen Gallacher jokingly said he was off to “break a few putters” after his hopes of a second Alfred Dunhill Links Championship victory fizzled out in a “frustrating” final round. Joint third and just three off the lead at the start of the day, the 2004 winner was still in with a shout after going out in two-under but ran up a double-bogey 6 at the tenth after having to play out backwards from a bunker and then limped home in 41.

The Ryder Cup factor did indeed prove decisive in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. Just not the way we expected. In the end, Tyrrell Hatton and Tommy Fleetwood, two members of Europe’s winning team in France a week earlier, were upstaged by someone who was at Le Golf National as a spectator. Step forward Dane Lucas Bjerregaard, who battled both cold conditions and a strengthening wind to close with a five-under 67 on the Old Course at St Andrews to claim a dramatic one-shot victory.

It was good news and bad news from a Scottish perspective as the leaderboard in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship finally started to take proper shape after three days of laborious jousting at Carnoustie, Kingsbarns and St Andrews.

Calum Hill shared the lead at the halfway stage in the Monaghan Irish Challenge as he chases a second Challenge Tour win of the season on Irish soil.