Scott Jamieson's relief as his baby comes through open-heart surgery

Last summer, Jamieson and his American wife Natalie discovered 20 weeks into her pregnancy that their third baby had a suspected congenital heart defect which would require postnatal surgery to correct. That was carried out when baby Max’s heart stopped nine days after arriving in the world in October, with Natalie describing the successful surgery as a “miracle”.

In his first start after that worrying time, Jamieson, pictured, got himself in the mix in the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa last month and now he’s hoping to back that up with a strong start to 2019 in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

“We knew about the open heart surgery,” the Florida-based Glaswegian said as he finalised his preparations for the $7 million Rolex Series. “Thankfully, everything went well and everything is good.”

Bidding to add to his 2013 Nelson Mandela Championship success on South African soil, Jamieson led heading into the final round of the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek before ending up joint-third behind American David Lipsky. “David played great in the last round,” reflected Jamieson, who joins Stephen Gallacher, David Drysdale, Richie Ramsay, Grant Forrest, Liam Johnston, Bob MacIntyre and David Law in flying the Saltire in the UAE. “I hit a couple of loose shots in the middle of the round that probably swung the event. I then realised that I probably wasn’t going to win but then had a great back nine.

“After not having the best year last year then having two months off, it’s only natural that you start wondering when your next decent result is going to come and it was nice to get that so early in the season.

“It makes the rest of the year easier when you get off to a good start. I’ve probably got more points on the board than I did in May or June last year. It sets the year up nicely, but now I’ve got to try and keep the foot on the floor.”

This week’s event is part of the Rolex Series for the first time, joining a list that also includes the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club  in July.

“It’s a little different having such a big one out of the blocks,” admitted Jamieson. “I guess it changes your mentality slightly. The field is no different, but all of a sudden we are playing for double the points we would be normally. That’s exciting and hopefully I can have a good week.”