Ewen Ferguson delighted to 'join in the party' on European Tour

Ewen Ferguson chose brain over brawn to sign off with a flourish in the Scottish Championship and finish as the top Scot for the second time in his last three starts on the European Tour.

Ewen Ferguson signed off with a 67 to finish as the leading home player in the Scottish Championship presented by AXA at Fairmont St Andrews. Picture: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

Displaying his growing confidence, the 24-year-old birdied the last in the final round at Fairmont St Andrews for a closing 67 to finish in a tie for 16th behind Spaniard Adrian Otaegui on 11-under-par.

The pleasing effort came three weeks after Ferguson, a former British and Scottish Boys' champion, finished joint-14th in the Irish Open, having also given a good account of himself in between when tying for 30th in the Scottish Open.He's now recorded five top-30 finishes in eight events on the main tour after being among the Challenge Tour players to enjoy some welcome opportunities on the circuit's two UK Swings.

"Getting the first result (in Ireland) is what has gone right over the last few weeks," said Ferguson, who earned €11,588 for this effort on the Fife coast. "I knew I could play and I've done it before, so that wasn't really in question, it was just breaking down the barrier of doing it once, getting some confidence and starting to feel a bit more comfortable playing with good players.

"I played with Sam [Horsfield] today, who has won twice. Meeting these people and thinking I feel more comfortable in their surroundings. I have lots of pals like Bob (Macintyre) and Connor (Syme) who seem to be doing it every week, so it's nice to join in that party a little bit."

Ferguson was on the back foot in the final round after running up a double-bogey 6 at the fourth before making an eagle and and six birdies in the remaining 14 holes.

"It was a good birdie on the last," he said of finishing with a 4. I've not played the last hole great in the last few tournaments, so I took 3-wood off the last tee and just tried to get it in position, get it in position again, and almost play it the smart way rather than trying to overpower it and make a mistake.

"I was quite happy that things I worked on with my coach, Gregor Monks, at home paid off. Knowing that it wasn't great with the driver today, so I thought 'get it in position and change things up'.

"It's hard to do in the head when you're in the heat of battle, so I did that and it paid off with a birdie, delighted."Helped by an eagle-2 at the sixth taking him to 13-under, Calum Hill was on course to finish as the leading home player with eight holes to play.

However, two double-bogeys over the closing stretch left him having to settle for a closing 70 for a share of 25th on 10-under alongside Marc Warren (70).

David Law (68) and Richie Ramsay (70) ended up in a tie for 33rd on eight-under, one ahead of Scott Jamieson (68) and Connor Syme (72).

In an event that saw 10 home players make it to the weekend, Craig Howie (70) finished in joint-43rd on six-under, but David Drysdale (71) and Daniel Young (71) ended up outside the top 50 on four-under and two-over respectively.

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