American Sean Crocker lands maiden DP World Tour title with wire-to-wire Hero Open win

American Sean Crocker landed his maiden DP World Tour win in the Hero Open at Fairmont St Andrews while David Law was left feeling quietly confident that title No 2 is just around the corner after recording his second top-five finish in four starts.

Sean Crocker and his Scottish caddie Steve Pettit with the Hero Open trophy after the American's win at Fairmont St Andrews. Picture: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images.

Crocker, a 25-year-old Californian, secured his breakthrough in style with a wire-to-wire victory over the Torrance Course at the Fife venue, signing off with a solid 68 for a 22-under-par total to win by a shot from Eddie Pepperell after his best-of-the-day 65.

After a bogey-free 68, Law ended up in a tie for third - the same spot he secured behind compatriot Grant Forrest 12 months ago - with Spaniard Adrian Otaegui, who won the AXA Scottish Championship at the same venue in 2020, on 19-under.

“Winning wire to wire, I was thinking about it this morning when I woke up and it kinda feels cool,” admitted Crocker, who landed a victory worth around £250,000 with Scot Steve Pettit on his bag. “I know I can win now and that’s a great feeling.”

Stand-in caddie Michael MacDougall looks on as David Law lines up a putt on the 17th hole at Fairmont St Andrews. Picture: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images.

The Zimbabwe-born player, who graduated from the Challenge Tour along with Law as well as Forrest and Bob MacIntyre at the end of the 2018 season, missed eight cuts and retired in another event at the start of the current campaign.

But he turned the tide by finishing seventh in the Soudal Open in Belgium in May before making the top 15 again in the recent co-sanctioned Barracuda Championship in California. “Going through that process earlier this year, I know how mean this game is,” he added.

Law’s strong showing on home soil came hot on the heels of his fourth-place finish in the Horizon Irish Open and, in between, he also made the cut in both the Genesis Scottish Open and The Open, which marked his major debut.

This effort was worth around £83,000 and took his combined earnings for that four-run stretch to just over £300,000. The 31-year-old Aberdonian is also up to 38th in the DP World Tour Rankings.

“I just need to keep getting myself into contention and hopefully we’ll knock one off,” said Law, who landed his maiden win in the 2019 Vic Open.

“I’m going to play the next two weeks, then I’ve got two weeks off. Then after that there’s a stretch of five really big events.

“They’ll play a big part in dictating where the season’s going to finish. Already it’s gone well and there’s momentum there.

“One of the big goals is to win again this year, the other is the DP World at the end of the year. Feel like the way I’m playing and going, I can achieve that.”

His closing effort on this occasion contained birdies at the sixth, ninth, 14th and 15th, but, for the first time all week, he failed to take advantage of any of the par-5s.

“All in all, I can’t be unhappy,” admitted the two-time Scottish Amateur champion. “I shot four-under, bogey-free on a Sunday and am going to finish top three. So it's been really positive week.”

Challenge Tour card holder Daniel Young finished in a tie for 12th on 15-under, four ahead of Ewen Ferguson while Forrest, Connor Syme and Scott Jamieson all ended up on 10-under.