Golf: Danny buoyed by run to Scottish Amateur final

The 20-year-old started a fairytale run in the SGU's flagship event with a 19th-hole win over seed Kris Nicol in the third round.

Kay repeated the feat to knock out Walker Cup hopeful James Byrne in yesterday's semi- finals.

And he set out in today's 36-hole final against David Law, the winner at Troon in 2009, feeling confident he could pull off another giantkilling act.

"I knew I was the underdog against James but that probably helped me," said Kay. "There was no pressure on me and I was able to go out and play my best."

Kay was up early on against Banchory 22-year-old Byrne thanks to a birdie-3 at the second, lost the fifth but regained the lead when he was conceded the long sixth.

Byrne then birdied the eighth and tenth before going two up at 12th, where a par-4 proved good enough.

But Kay dug deep to get back on level terms, winning the long 14th with a birdie and then taking the short 15th as well with a great 2.

Byrne went back in front again with his second birdie of the day at the 16th only to undo that good work with a wayward tee shot at the last.

That allowed Kay to win that with a 4 and he clinched a sensational win with a birdie-3 at the first extra hole.

"I'm buzzing - this is the best win I've ever had," said the East Lothian youngster, who reached the semi-finals of the Scottish Boys at Royal Aberdeen two years ago.

Law, who won that event before going on to become the first player to complete the double by also winning the men's title a few months later, booked his place in the final with a 4 and 3 win over James Ross of Royal Burgess.

Ross reckoned he had run out of steam against his fellow 20-year-old, who is hoping a win in Ayrshire will boost his chances of playing in the Walker Cup in his home city in September.

"David was very solid, but my performance was a bit lethargic," said the Lothians man.

He was three down after four before winning the next two but let Law go two up again after finding a greenside bunker with his approach at the eighth.

"It was a tired swing," said Ross. "I was trying to stay relaxed - but it was too relaxed."

Law rubbed salt into the wounds by also winning the next with a birdie and was well on his way to the final after also taking the 11th and 12th.

Not surprisingly, Ross was not too disheartened having given a great account of himself.

"It's been a great week and I've throughly enjoyed the course," he added. "If someone had said at the start of the week that I was going to reach the semi-finals I would have been happy. This has been my best finish in any big event by a long way and now I want to try and build on this."

His first opportunity will come in the Gold Medal at Leven next weekend. "I finished third last year there so I'm looking forward to it," declared Ross.

Earlier in the day, he had secured a medal with a hard-earned 3 and 2 win over McDonald's Adam Dunton in the quarter-finals.

Neil Henderson's run came to an end in the last eight but the Glen man went down fighting against Law.

Helped by birdies at the third and fourth, Henderson was two up after four before finding himself one down with four to play.

He hit a 5-iron to ten feet at the short 15th to get back to square only for Law to edge in front again when he sank a timely ten-footer at the 17th.

"My game is definitely coming back," said Henderson, who also had lots of positives to take from his week. I've won more matches here than I had in total in the event before this week."

He's off to Florida on Monday to try and qualify for the US Amateur Championship.

"I'm playing at Black Bear outside Orlando and, while there will probably only be two or three spots up for grabs, it's also a small field," added Henderson.