Back-to-back wins boost Graeme Robertson's confidence for DP World Tour card bid

Graeme Robertson is feeling quietly confident about his upcoming bid to clear the first hurdle in the gruelling battle for DP World Tour cards next season after beginning to enjoy the whiff of victory in his nostrils.

Graeme Robertson shows off the trophy after winning the Leven Links Classic on the Tartan Pro Tour. Picture: Tartan Pro Tour

By his own admission, the Falkirk man didn’t convert as many of the winning opportunities in his amateur career as he’d have liked before taking a break from the game to work as a sales person in the building trade when he became a father.

But, helped by a confidence-boosting first major appearance in the 150th Open at Royal Liverpool in July, the floodgates have just opened for the extremely personable 35-year-old.

Just under a fortnight ago, Robertson carded rounds of 65-67-66 for a 12-under-par total and a one-shot success in the Leven Links Classic presented by Petrasco, an event on Paul Lawrie’s Tartan Pro Tour.

Graeme Robertson proudly shows off the trophy after winning the Loch Lomond Whiskies Scottish PGA Championship at Scotscraig. Picture: Kenny Smith/Getty Images.

He’s also now the newly-crowned Loch Lomond Whiskies Scottish PGA champion after posting scores of 66-70-65-66 for an equally-impressive 17-under aggregate and a three-shot victory at Scotscraig last week.

“It’s been an unbelievable last couple of weeks,” admitted Robertson. “I’m not quite sure what I’ve done differently, but it’s great to get over the line to land two great wins. It’s a funny game golf, eh? You wait for ages for something to happen and qualifying for The Open was a big one in terms of boosting my confidence.

“Even in my amateur career, I feel like I should have won more. I finished second in the Scottish Stroke Play and runner-up in the Scottish Amateur. I was also second in the Irish Open Stroke-Play - loads of close calls.

“To win two events in a row and on different tours (the Scottish PGA is on the Arnold Clark Tartan Tour schedule) is a big change for me in terms of maybe having a bit more confidence helping me between the ears.”

Robertson ended Rhys Thompson’s three-event winning streak with his Tartan Pro Tour triumph before holding off two seasoned campaigners in Craig Lee and Chris Currie to land the Scotscraig success.

“The boys on the Tartan Pro Tour are really good players,” he said of what is now a feeder circuit for the Challenge Tour. “A lot of them are playing full time as they try to get Challenge Tour and DP World Tour cards. To win on any tour is very good but doing it on that circuit at the moment was very satisfying indeed.

“As for the Scottish PGA Championship, it’s such a prestigious tournament, as the names on the trophy indicate. I’m obviously from Glenbervie and you’ve got John Panton on it and John Chillas, too. Also your stand outs in Sam Torrance, Bernard Gallacher, Paul Lawrie and lots of other well-known names. To get my name on the trophy is pretty special - I’m really proud to have it there.”

Robertson is heading to Denmark later in the month to play in one of the first stage events in the DP World Tour Qualifying School. “I went there last year and quite liked it, so I thought I’d do the same thing again” he said of choosing Royal Oak Golf Club in Rødding as opposed to seven other venues around Europe.

“I’m just comfortable there. I’ve played in Scandinavia quite a lot and I’ve always played well over there, whereas I always seem to struggle when I go to Spain, where it’s a Bermuda-style grass.

“I was pretty confident going into the Q-School last year, but I definitely think that having these wins under my belt changes things a bit in my head a bit as it’s definitely given me that extra confidence boost and that’s maybe been what’s lacking in the past. Wee things like that can have a big difference in golf, so we’ll see what happens.

“You just need to keep pushing and hopefully you can get through Q-School. It’s a tough process, I know that, but you just have to go for it and see what happens. I’ve played some good golf this year, so we’ll give it a go.”

Callum Bruce has already progressed to the second stage after clearing his first hurdle at The Players Club in Bristol last week while 2018 Open Silver Medal winner Sam Loke is hoping to likewise at Millennium Golf in Belgium this week.

The Tartan Pro Tour, meanwhile, continues with this week’s Ladybank Masters presented by Piper Sandler, with the 54-event getting underway on Wednesday.