'Golf is just insane' - moaning player shoots course-record 61 and books Open spot

Syme agonisingly misses out on Troon trip but is feeling upbeat about rest of season

Richard Mansell reckons golf is “insane”. His observation came after moaning about how poor his game was one day then going out the next one and claiming a share of the course record at The Renaissance Club with a nine-under-par 61 in the closing round of the Genesis Scottish Open.

At the time he finished, the Englishman didn’t think he’d be in the reckoning for three spots up for grabs in the 152nd Open only to be delighted to be proved wrong around five hours later. Along with compatriot Aaron Rai and Swede Alex Noren, Mansell will also now be teeing up at Royal Troon on Thursday in the season’s final major.

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“No,” replied Mansell in an emphatic tone if he’d seen a ten-birdie effort and an inward nine of 29 coming. “Believe it or not, I've been struggling with my game recently. Just constantly feeling like I've been searching but not been too far away.

Richard Mansell celebrates holing a birdie putt to match the course record with a 61 on day four of the Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club. Picture: Andrew Redington/Getty Images.Richard Mansell celebrates holing a birdie putt to match the course record with a 61 on day four of the Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club. Picture: Andrew Redington/Getty Images.
Richard Mansell celebrates holing a birdie putt to match the course record with a 61 on day four of the Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club. Picture: Andrew Redington/Getty Images.

“I was chatting for about three hours with my manager last night, and I was just kind of moaning a bit, as golfers do, about where my game is at and stuff like that. He was like, ‘well, it's got 65 all over it’. I said, ‘how about 61’?

“It's made me realise even more that this game is just insane! You're never as far away as you think you are and I'm hoping that that can kind of kick start my season now.”

Mansell, who will be teeing up for a third time in The Open after making the cut in both 2021 and 2022, revealed his effort had come after taking a leaf out of Ludvig Aberg’s book when it comes to wasting no time when standing over a shot.

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“I was on the range yesterday and I was watching Ludvig hit balls and I saw how quickly he gets on with it,” he said. “I was like, I do not do that and I kind of need to take a leaf out of that book and I tried to quicken up my routine and see the target and go and didn't miss many shots today.”

Rai, who won the Scottish Open at the same venue in 2020, had cause for another celebration after be secured his trip to the Ayrshire coast by closing with a bogey-free 63 to finish a shot ahead of both Mansell and Noren on 14 under.

“The Open wasn't really in my thinking going into today,” he claimed. “I felt I was so far away going into today and I didn't feel very good with where my game was at.”

It was also mission accomplished as far as the Claret Jug event was concerned for fellow former Scottish Open champion Noren as the 2016 winner reeled off four birdies on the spin on the front nine to storm to the turn in 30 before going on to sign for a 65.

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Agonisingly, Connor Syme missed out by a shot in his brave bid to join Bob MacIntyre, Ewen Ferguson, Jack McDonald and amateur Calum Scott in flying the Saltire in the season’s final major. “I played well and that’s positive,” said Syme after signing for a 67 to secure a top-20 finish, which came on the back of his fourth-place effort in the BMW International Open in Munich.

“This sets me up nicely for the rest of the season,” he added, with a wedding next up before returning to action in the Czech Masters next month. “It’s another good result in a very strong tournament.”

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