Tyrrell Hatton has his sights on repeating his success at Royal Aberdeen two years ago by qualifying for the Open championship with a good finish at Castle Stuart this weekend.
The final four qualifying places for next week’s major at Royal Troon are on offer in the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open.
The leading four players, who finish in the top 12 and ties and who are not already exempt will earn a place in the Open, a feat Hatton achieved in Aberdeen two years ago when he finished tied fourth.
The 24-year-old from Buckinghamshire, whose mother, Karen, lives at Tomatin, made a good start in yesterday’s opening round by capitalising on an early start with a two-under-par 70.
He said: “This is the first time I have played Castle Stuart. I spoke to a few players before coming here and they said it would be quite forgiving and the scores would be low. But when the wind picks up it defends the course and that was certainly the case today.
“The wind really picked up on the back nine and it was a really tough finish. I was hitting a three wood on the 17th when it was 215yd to the pin and I still came up short. Links courses have been kind to me in the past. I need a good week and I have got off to a positive start.”
Hatton has been edging closer to a breakthrough victory on the European Tour after finishing tied fifth at the Irish Open and tied seventh in the BMW PGA championship in May.
He said: “I have had a good run since coming 12th in the Shenzhen International in China. That was until the 16th hole of the Nordea Masters in Sweden when I finished with two double bogeys to finish 20th.
“I took two weeks off before the BMW International in Germany and paid the price as I didn’t play very well and missed the cut.
“I struggled a little bit last week in France so I had my dad, Jeff, who is my coach, come up this week. We spent a bit of time on Tuesday getting things sorted and my swing is starting to feel a bit more comfortable.
“He has been my coach since I was 10 or 11. We get on well and he has helped me out a lot. Hopefully, I can keep up the good work on that front.”