Aaron Rai defeated Tommy Fleetwood in a play-off to win the ASI Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club.
The 25-year-old from Wolverhampton fired a final round 64 to set the clubhouse target at 11 under par, but Fleetwood holed a 20-foot putt on the last for a closing birdie to take the Rolex Series event to extra holes.
It was advantage Fleetwood off the tee in the playoff on the par-four 18th, as Rai found a bunker, but while Rai managed to salvage his par, Fleetwood three-putted from just off the green – his last from inside three feet – to hand Rai his European Tour title to go with the Hong Kong Open he won last year.
Rai’s victory comes a week after he finished second at the Irish Open, where he bogeyed the final hole when needing a birdie for victory. While the winner in Ireland picked up a cheque for £180,000, Rai’s reward in Scotland was a hefty £940,000, which moved him into third in the Race to Dubai rankings, and into the top 100 in the world for the first time in his career.
Speaking after picking up the trophy, Rai said: “It’s incredible. I played a lot in Scotland growing up, and dreamed of playing in a European Tour event in Scotland, so to be able to go still further and win here is an incredible feeling. I didn’t really see many leaderboards all the way around, but I knew we had to play well and knew we had to keep pushing forwards, but luckily I had a good couple of breaks and also played very well, so I’m very pleased.”
Fleetwood, who never held the lead, or a share of it, until the 72nd hole, said: “I hit a poor putt in the play off and that’s the end of it, really. Aaron played 72 holes very, very well, and it was his week. Congratulations to him. Looking back at the week, there were so many putts that probably cost me from winning, but that’s life and we try again next week.”
While Fleetwood will rue his missed chance, so will Robert Rock. The 43-year-old Englishman, who coaches a stable of players on the European Tour, missed out on the play-off by one shot after a costly bogey on the last in closing 70. A heavy touch with a wedge from the edge of green, when the shot was crying out for a putt, saw him miss out on a chance to add to the Dubai Desert Classic win back in ???? He finished tied third with Australian Lucas Herbert and Scotland’s Marc Warren at nine under, after rounds of 65 and 66 respectively.
Warren bogeyed the last to slip to nine under, a shot clear of Marcus Kinhult, Ian Poulter and Erik van Rooyen, with Padraig Harrington, Eddie Pepperell and Matthew Southgate, Victor Dubuisson and Kalle Samooja at seven under.
Aaron Rai’s winning gear
Driver: TaylorMade M6 (9°)
Fairway wood: TaylorMade SIM Max (15°)
Driving iron: TaylorMade GAPR Hi (19°)
Irons: TaylorMade P7TW (4-9)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM8 (46°, 52°, 56°, 64°)
Putter: TaylorMade Spider X
Ball: Titleist Pro V1