David Law excited to be part of 'top-class' field for Scottish Challenge at Newmachar

It’s an exciting time for the Challenge Tour, as golf fans in the Aberdeen area can find out by heading to Newmachar this week for the Farmfoods Scottish Challenge presented by The R&A.

DP World Tour player David Law is among 25 home players teeing up in this week's Farmfood Scottish Challenge presented by The R&A at Newmachar. Picture: Jan Kruger/Getty Images.

Restored to the schedule at the same venue last year by Paul Lawrie through his Five Star Sports Agency now promoting it, the field for this edition is very appealing indeed for a variety of reasons.

For starters, it is being spearheaded by a rejuvenated Matteo Manassero, the Italian who looked set for world stardom when he became the youngest BMW PGA winner at Wentworth in 2013 having landed two title-triumphs on the second-tier circuit this season after working his way out of a rut.

The line up also includes Alex Fitzpatrick, younger brother of 2022 US Open champion Matt, and the Englishman is heading to the north-east as the Challenge Tour’s newest winner after storming to victory in the British Challenge at St Mellion on Sunday.

Brandon Stone, the 2018 Scottish Open winner at Gullane, is in the field as well while a whopping 25-strong Caledonian contingent includes David Law, who is taking the chance to tee up on his home patch due to the DP World Tour currently being on a three-week summer break.

“Last time I played this event I managed to win it,” said Law of his success in Aviemore in 2018, which helped him step up to the main tour the following year and land a breakthrough victory in just his fifth start in the ISPS Handa Vic Open.

“Though out of anyone’s control, it was disappointing that the event never continued until it was resurrected last year, which was fantastic. This week is sponsored by Farmfoods, a sponsor of mine for my whole career, and promoted by Paul (Lawrie is Law’s mentor and manager). It made sense on every front for me to play, really.”

Law’s last appearance was in the Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club and, while appreciating the chance to spend some quality time with his young family at this time of the year, the 32-year-old is ready to start gearing up for the rest of the season.

“That was the thought process,” he said of using this week to try and shake off any rest before heading to Northern Ireland next week for the ISPS Handa World Invitational. “It’s a tournament that allows me to stay at home. Alan [McCloskey, his coach] is coming up on Tuesday and is up until Thursday. Max [Bill], my caddie, is flying up on Tuesday, so we can basically get a good week’s work done. It’s not necessarily about trying to get a result but more a case of looking to get match sharp again for the events coming up as three weeks off is a long time, so I sort of feel I need this week to get going again.

“It’s going to be a really busy time when we start back. The year so far has been a bit stop-start as there have been natural gaps and now is the time you can pick and choose your schedule a bit. It’s going to be a busy ten events or so for me. As for this week, it’s a great opportunity for people to watch some top-class golf.”