Happy Hutcheon as he secures Wentworth trip and PGA Cup berth
A week after reclaiming the Tartan Tour Order of Merit title, Greig Hutcheon secured all sorts of rewards thanks to a late thrust in the PGA Play-offs at Saunton in Devon.
Level-par for the day with six to play in the final round, Hutcheon went birdie-birdie-eagle before finishing with three straight pars for a closing 67 and a five-under-par 279 total. That secured him a share of third in an event won by Englishman Matt Cort, earning the Paul Lawrie Golf Centre Inchmarlo man a cheque for £1,100.
Even more attractive, though, are some of the rewards Hutcheon secured. Through finishing in the top 10, for example, he’s into next year’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, where fellow Tartan Tour player Graham Fox is also heading after he finished seventh. Having defeated Irishman Damien Mcgrane in a play-off, Hutcheon has also secured automatic qualification along with Cort and another Englishman, Robert Coles, for the GB&I team to defend the PGA Cup at Foxhills in Surrey next September.
“I was pleased to have a good score at the finish because I have squandered a lot of shots out there this week,” said Hutcheon, a two-time PGA Play-offs winner. “It hasn’t been a great scoring week, but I have battled hard.”
Elsewhere, Duncan Stewart and David Law jumped ahead of compatriots Scott Henry and Grant Forrest on the second day of the inaugural Ras Al Khaimah Challenge in the UAE. Stewart and Law have both opened with rounds of 68 and 69 at Al Hamra to sit joint-13th on seven-under-par, four shots behind Frenchman Romain Langasque.