Michael Stewart 'scrapped like mad man' to stay in top 25 in The Open

He knew himself that it might have sounded a tad silly but “disappointed” was the word used by Michael Stewart to sum up his third-round effort in the 151st Open at Royal Liverpool.

Michael Stewart tees off at the first in the third round of the 151st Open at Royal Liverpool. Picture: Tom Russo/The Scotsman.

Making his major debut at the age of 33, it had already been a week to remember for the Troon man as he comfortably made the cut on the back of opening rounds of 68 and 73 at the Hoylake venue.

In truth, he did himself proud once again as he added a 71 to sit just outside the top 20 in the final major of the season, but, like any golfer, he reckoned his effort in the penultimate could have been better.

“Yeah and no,” replied Stewart, who won a Final Qualifying event at Dundonald Links to get into the field, to being asked if he was pleased with his day’s work. “I had an average day, to be honest. I scrapped like a madman.

“The golf course today was probably the most scorable of the three days. The fairways are a bit softer, greens are a bit softer, pins felt like they were gettable for the most part. But I just didn't quite have it in terms of my long game.”

Has he always been good at scrapping like a madman? “Yeah, very much so.. on the golf course that is,” he added, laughing. “I've been great off the tee for such a long time, but this week I feel like for the first time in quite a while I haven't quite had it off the tee.”

The tone for Stewart’s day was set when holed a 44-footer to save par at the first after his drive found a pot bunker and left him having to splash out. Mainly due to that and two from around 25 feet for birdies at the third and 16th, his total length for putts holed in the round was just over 142 feet. Over the first three days, the total length is 400 feet, which is the best in the field.

“Delighted to scrap for level par,” he said of this effort. “So I feel good, but I'm just knackered because when you don't quite have it you feel like it's more of a grind and you're mentally more tired.”

In his current position on the leaderboard, Stewart would pick up around $160,000. His biggest pay-day until now was for £12,000 after winning a PGA EuroPro Tour event at Leven Links last year. Oh, and next year’s Open is at Royal Troon, where the top-ten finishers on the Wirral will be teeing up.

“Obviously I would love to play there,” said Stewart, who cut his golfing teeth at Troon Welbeck, of that possibility. “The experience has been better than I could ever have imagined. On the Challenge Tour, you have like four or five guys and a dog that come out and watch. You don't have to wait for Rory McIlroy behind you to hit a shot for the crowd to applaud or whatever.

“It was a cool experience today playing in front of him. The crowds are wild. Just to soak it in, it’s just cool. He obviously wouldn't remember who I am, but he was a year older than me in the European under-16 stuff.”