John Henry wins St Andrews Classic after Paul Lawrie lets lead slip on back nine

John Henry landed an unexpected Tartan Pro Tour win after Paul Lawrie, the circuit’s founder and commissioner, suffered a sore finish in the St Andrews Classic presented by Fugro.

John Henry shows off the trophy after winning the Tartan Pro Tour's St Andrews Classic presented by Fugro. Picture: Tartan Pro Tour

After opening with rounds of 66 and 71 on the Jubilee Course then covering the opening ten holes in four-under-par, Lawrie was on course to come out on top in an event boasting one of the strongest fields in the tour’s short history.

But, after dropping seven shots over the closing stretch, including a triple-bogey 7 to finish, for a 75, the former Open champion and two-time Ryder Cup player had to settle for sixth spot as victory went instead to Henry.

“It feels pretty good, to be honest,” said the Clydebank man of his success, having closed with a 68 for a seven-under-par total and a one-shot victory over Carnoustie amateur Scott Mann (72). "It feels as though I’ve been knocking at the door all year and it’s good to finally get the foot down.”

On Lawrie’s misfortune, he added: “I won, but I think Paul had a bit of a bad finish to help me on my way, though it was very tough conditions today and yesterday as well, so I am delighted.”

After an opening 75, the Clydebank man had found himself in a tie for 35th before catapulting himself up the leaderboard with a brilliant 66 in the second circuit.

“Straight back from a stag do in Belfast on Sunday night - maybe not the best prep,” he said, laughing, of his first-day effort. “But I then only had two bogeys in the final two rounds while I chipped in from about 30 yards at the eighth for an eagle today to start the party, so to speak.

“I won the Scottish Par 3 Championship in 2020 on the Tartan Pro Tour, but this is my first win since it became a feeder tour. Mikey MacDougall and his tournament officials set the courses up to be as tough as they possibly can in terms of pin positions and playing as far back as we can. It’s not as if we are playing off forward tees with the pins in the middle of the greens. We are playing the courses as hard as they can be set up.”

Henry is hoping for another strong showing in next week’s Gleneagles Masters, the final event of the Tartan Pro Tour season, before heading to France to play in the first stage of the DP World Tour Qualifying School after that.”I will definitely take some confidence from this into that,” he said. “I’ve been playing very solid all year, have been delighted with how things have been going and now I won today.”

In between his opening two efforts, Lawrie headed back to Aberdeen to host his foundation’s dinner and, though the week didn’t end the way he’d have hoped for, the 54-year-old was the first to congratulate Henry. “Nice win, John. Well done, pal,” he wrote in a post on social media.