Scot wins on home soil to bridge 14-year gap on DP World Tour
Scott Jamieson admitted that the time spent “banging my head against a brick wall” and fearing he could “lose my job” had been worth it as he won on Scottish soil to bridge a 14-year gap between title triumphs on the DP World Tour.
The 42-year-old Glaswegian produced a polished last-round performance at Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeenshire to win the $3 million Nexo Championship by two shots.
It was a second successive home triumph in the event after Grant Forrest’s victory 12 months ago and, like his compatriot, Jamieson was congratulated shortly afterwards by US President Donald Trump in a FaceTime call.
“It was really cool,” said Jamieson, who is based in Florida. “He’s the President of the US. He was very complimentary and it sounded like he was watching and following it. He was pleased for me as well.”
Jamieson closed with successive 67s on one of the toughest courses on the DP World Tour schedule to finish with an 11-under-par total, winning from Matthew Jordan as the Englishman ended up in second spot for the second week running.
The victory, worth £370,000, lifted him from 136th to 42nd in the Race to Dubai Ranking, meaning he’s no longer fretting over keeping a card he’s held since 2011.
“It feels great now,” admitted Jamieson, who landed his breakthrough victory in the 2012 Nelson Mandela Championship in South Africa and has come up with a winning formula again 356 events later. “I didn’t realise it had been 14 years since I won, so it’s kind of sweet to get another one. I really enjoyed the day. Sure, I was nervous, but I was proud of how I stuck to my guns.”
It was the first Scottish success on the DP World Tour this season and the first on the circuit since Bob MacIntyre triumphed in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews last October.
“This is my 16th season on tour and I practice every day and explore different ways to try to get better,” said the new champion. “But, sometimes, you feel you are banging your head against a brick wall. So the odd win here and there makes it all worthwhile.
“There have been times when I thought I might be losing my job out here, but, thankfully, I don’t have to worry about that over the next few weeks when it was potentially on the cards. Hopefully this may open some doors to kick on and push up the ladder.
“This could be a platform to build on coming into an important part of the season when all the big points go up, so it’s a great time to be playing well and, hopefully, I can push on and make way into Play-Offs.”