Jamieson still hopes to bag Birkdale start
Good showing at Scottish Open could clinch place
Scott Jamieson will enter the last chance saloon this weekend as he bids for a place at next week’s Open Championship.
The 33-year-old, formerly of East Mains, is back on home soil for the Scottish Open at Dundonald Links and needs to finish high up the leaderboard to book his place at Royal Birkdale.
There are a few slots remaining for the 146th Open Championship and they will be awarded to the leading players at Dundonald who have not already secured their place at next week’s Championships.
He joins fellow East Kilbride golfer Marc Warren, who hails from Stewartfield, in the prestigious field for the Rolex Series event and Warren also finds himself needing a strong showing to land an Open start.
Jamieson goes into Dundonald off the back of a good week at the Irish Open where he tied for 14th place after finding himself in contention in the early rounds.
But he won’t let The Open chance distract from the job at hand.
Jamieson, who has played three Open Championships, told the News: “The Open is definitely something I’m aiming for and I’d love to be involved again but the Scottish Open is a big event in its own right.
“There’s a lot of ranking points riding on it and some of the best golfers in the world are involved. It’s my home Open and I want to perform well. “I’m feeling good about my game. “I had been going well until the past couple of weeks when I missed two cuts in a row, so it was good to get back on it in Ireland.
“I was slightly in contention to make The Open last week with the start I made but by Sunday I would have required -6, so it wasn’t to be.
“A spot in The Open would be a great bonus and, hopefully, I have a good week.”
The likes of Rory McIllroy, Henrik Stenson, Rickie Fowler and defending champion Alex Noren are just some of the big names coming to Ayrshire.
Although the Irvine venue is hosting the event for the first time, it’s a course Jamieson is very familiar with.
He added: “It’s a course I’ve played a few times before.
“I usually play on it a lot on the winter and enjoy it but obviously it’s a bit different in a tournament week.
“The course is looking good and I’m really looking forward to getting out there.”