Fit-again Calum Fyfe wins Ladybank Masters on Tartan Pro Tour

Calum Fyfe handed himself a timely confidence boost for his DP World Tour Qualifying School bid after winning the Ladybank Masters presented by Piper Sandler on the Tartan Pro Tour.

Calum Fyfe shows off the trophy after carding a third successive 68 to win the Ladybank Masters presented by Piper Sandler. Picture: Tartan Pro Tour

After opening with back-to-back three-under-par 68s in sweltering conditions at the Fife venue, Fyfe trailed Englishman Will Marshall (66-69) by a shot heading into the final round.

But, as Marshall’s hopes of a wire-to-wire win were dashed by a closing 75 that left him having to settle for eighth spot, Fyfe closed with yet another 68 for a nine-under-par total and a two-shot victory over Greg Dalziel and Kieran Cantley.

“Though I won three in a row when it was one-day Winter Series events, it’s my first win since it became three rounds,” said Fyfe of Paul Lawrie’s tour now being a feeder circuit for the Challenge Tour.

“There’s lot of good players, so you’ve got to turn up with your A game to have a chance of being in contention and winning, so really chuffed about the way I played. I think I only missed three greens over the 54 holes, so it was solid golf.

“The course wasn’t playing easy. It’s so easy to make a big number there if you make a mistake off the tee, so trying to keep in play was the big goal.

“I hit it close a lot over the three days. My putting wasn’t as good as normally is, but I found it tough to hole putts. The greens were lovely, but it was difficult to read them.”

Fyfe is heading to Austria on Sunday ahead of playing in one of the DP World Tour Q-School first stage events starting at Golfclub Schloss Ebreichsdorf next Wednesday.

“It’s been a bit of a struggle this year,” he admitted. “At the start of the year, I had a really sore back and I wasn’t able to play anywhere near my full ability. In fact, it was to the point where I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t even tie my shoelaces.

“But, the week before I played in the Farmfoods Scottish Challenge at Newmachar, I felt as though I was able to swing the club properly again and it’s been good to get some good results and performances under my belt.

“I played this week to try and get myself ready for the Tour School. I am going there with the attitude of trying to win the tournament and forget about how many spots are up for grabs. I’ll just go out and play hard as it’s the biggest tournament of the year and it will be the same again if I get to stage two and then in the final as well.

“I was getting a few starts on the Challenge Tour earlier in the year and felt I had to take them.I managed to make a few cuts, but I just wasn’t hitting it anywhere near as far as I normally do. But now I’m back to full fitness and, with the hard work I’ve been putting in paying off as well, it is giving me confidence going into the next few weeks.”

Dalziel signed off with a 66, which matched the best score of the week, to secure his share of second spot with Cantley after his last-day 70. After creating history as the first amateur to win on the circuit in the previous event at Blairgowrie, Gregor Graham made his presence felt again by finishing fourth on six-under, two ahead of Order of Merit leader Rhys Thompson in a share of sixth.