Those lab coat-wearing boffins who have just gone to great scientific lengths to publish a report saying that golf has numerous benefits for body and mind clearly don’t play this anguish-laden, head-mangling game.
There you go, thrashing away in a lather and cursing yourself into a gibbering fever while your increasingly infuriated face turns the colour of a freshly creosoted fence as you build towards the kind of explosive outpouring that used to be the reserve of Vesuvius. What could possibly be healthier?
But who are we to argue with the appliance of science? This grand old Royal & Ancient game is supposed to increase your life expectancy and the experts are right. Watching the slow, ponderous unravelling of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship adds years to you, after all.
Trying to safeguard your place on the main European Tour probably adds a few grey hairs of concern too. While Alex Noren, the Swede who has already prospered in the home of golf this season by winning July’s Scottish Open, had another profitable day in the game’s cradle by shooting a sparkling course record-equalling eight-under 64 at Carnoustie to lead by one from Ross Fisher, the scramble to simply keep dining at the top table always provides an intriguing sub-plot to affairs in this lucrative celebration of links golf.
With events running out, those who are hovering around the trapdoor are in a fairly perilous position. Glasgow man Scott Jamieson is one of those currently outside the card-retaining safety zone of the top 110 on the money list but having shown signs of a welcome return to form in recent weeks, the 32-year-old is slowly clambering in the right direction. A share of 10th in the KLM Open and a tie for seventh in the following week’s Italian Open has injected the Scot’s campaign with renewed vigour. He is now up to 114th on the order of merit and a tidy five-under 67 at Kingsbarns yesterday kept things ticking along nicely as he manoeuvred himself into a share of fifth on the early leaderboard.
Of course, with a whopping prize fund of almost £4 million on offer this week, the Dunhill Links can be a real saving grace for those in desperate need of a timely tonic. There are plenty of Scottish stories of salvation in this event. In 2009, Richie Ramsay finished fourth to preserve his tour spot while George Murray’s third place finish in 2011 did the same for him. Marc Warren got his full playing rights back that year too by finishing fifth while Chris Doak’s fifth place finish in 2014 propelled him into the top 100. A good result for Jamieson here will mean he can stop peering anxiously over his shoulder. Indeed, a really strong showing could transform his season.
“It was in my mind coming into this that I needed a good week,” said Jamieson, after a neatly assembled card that was illuminated by an eagle-three on the third. “I’m just outside the bubble just now but I’m in a much better position than I was a month ago. One solid week and it’s done and dusted but one great week and I could go on and have my best season yet. It’s a funny old game how one week can change things massively. I think if I was to finish top 20 then the most important goal is probably taken care of in terms of securing my card. But if I can get a top 10 or a top five then you start talking about getting into the Final Series. It’s incredible how fine the margins are from one extreme to the other.”
Jamieson’s fellow ‘bubble boys’ could do with a lift too. Warren, at No 125 on the rankings, posted a level-par 72 having started with a trio of bogeys at Kingsbarns while Craig Lee, perched at 123rd on the Race to Dubai table, had a morale-boosting three-under 69 over the same course.
It was Noren who set the heather on fire, though, with a classy performance as he seeks a third win of a fine season. The 34-year-old tamed the beast of Carnoustie with an eight-birdie round to become the 10th player to hit a 64 over this revered and rigorous stretch of Angus links land.
“It’s probably one of the best rounds I’ve played,” said Noren after harnessing the testing conditions during a round which included just 24 putts. “I don’t think I’ve shot lower than 71 here so this went much better than expected.”
Fisher clung to Noren’s coat tails by covering his last seven holes at Kingsbarns in six-under en route to a 65 while Rafael Cabrera Bello and Thomas Pieters were the best of the Ryder Cuppers with 70s at Carnoustie.
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