It had been a topsy-turvy week for Jack Doherty. Missing out on a play-off for a place in the Open Championship by a single shot last Tuesday was a right scunner but he was wearing a smile as wide as the Moray Firth in Lossiemouth last night as he booked a tee-time for this week’s Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open with victory in the 36-hole qualifying event.

The golfing gods must have been in a sympathetic mood. A closing one-under 70 in the blustery, boisterous conditions at Moray Golf Club gave the 34-year-old a four-under aggregate of 138 as he led the five qualifiers, a shot ahead of Gareth Wright, Peter Whiteford, Alastair Forsyth and Kris Nicol.

Doherty, who came within a whisker of a sudden-death shoot-out with Colin Montgomerie for an Open spot during the qualifying event at Gailes Links earlier in the week, picked up a tasty cheque for £7,500 but knows the potential rewards at Castle Stuart this week are much greater in a contest which boasts a hefty purse of £3.25 million. And who knows? With four Royal Troon places still up for grabs for the leading finishers in the Scottish Open, Doherty could still sneak in the back door. “I’m certainly playing well enough so we’ll see,” said the Kilmarnock-based golfer who will be making his debut in the domestic showpiece. “Funnily enough I was more nervous coming down the 18th today than I was on Tuesday night. I’m just delighted to get through but I’ll now need to get my caddie to change his plans because he’d booked up to go to Slovakia for a Challenge Tour event. I’m sure he won’t mind.”

While Doherty will be making his first appearance in the Scottish Open, Forsyth will be returning to a championship which used to be a regular date in his diary during his days on the European Tour. “Last year was the first time I’d missed the Scottish Open since 2000,” reported the 40-year-old, who signed off with a 70 for his 139 tally. After a few seasons of toil and trouble on the main circuit, Forsyth has gone back to his roots. The two-time European Tour winner is doing his PGA training, competing on the Tartan Tour and passing on his pearls of wisdom as a coach. “It’s the first time in a long time that I’m actually enjoying playing golf,” said the Paisley man. “The Scottish Open is up there with the best events on tour and it’s brilliant to be back.”

Whiteford has also endured a dispiriting spell over the last couple of seasons but the Fifer gave himself a timely tonic with a closing 70 for his three-under aggregate. “I’ve also picked up a decent cheque here so it’s the first time for a while that I’ve made a profit,” he said. “I was hanging on for dear life down the last couple of holes but that’s what happens when you’re low on confidence. It’s been pretty horrendous the last couple of years but I’m slowly beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel.”

West Linton-based Welshman Wright joined the quartet on four-under with a 69 although a trio of three-putts and couple of lip-outs made his wait to see if he’d qualified more anxious than it perhaps should have been. With Wales’s footballers roaring on in Euro 2016, this is a good time to be from the Principality. “It’s nice having the dragon on the golf bag,” he said. Fraserburgh man Nicol, meanwhile, dribbled in a par-putt on the last which teetered on the edge of the cup and dropped to make sure he avoided a play-off as he plundered the final qualifying spot.

Elsewhere, Craig Lawrie came up short in his spirited bid to join his dad, Paul, in the Scottish Open during an eventful 72 which included his first competitive hole-in-one on the 15th. The 20-year-old’s push was dealt a damaging dunt with a double-bogey on the 14th but he bounced back in fine style on the next when his 7-iron tee-shot found the cup. A birdie on the 17th kept his qualifying hopes alive but a three-putt bogey on the 18th finally scuppered his chances as he finished with a one-under 141.