Doherty records best performance on Challenge Tour

Jack Doherty leapt into contention in this season’s Road to Oman after recording his best performance on the Challenge Tour, where three Scots are now sitting inside the top 30 in the battle for 15 European Tour cards.

Doherty was on course for a maiden victory on the circuit in the Hauts de France Golf Open at Aa Saint Omer when he covered the opening 11 holes in the final round in three under to lead on nine under. That he was eventually pipped by home player Julien Guerrier after dropping shots at the 12th, 13th and 18th would have been disappointing for the tall Ayrshireman but, nonetheless, it was an encouraging performance.

For finishing joint second with Portugal’s Ricardo Santos and Italian Lorenzo Gagli, he won just over £14,000, jumping 80 spots to 23rd in the Road to Oman. Craig Lee sits 18th with Grant Forrest 27th.

Guerrier’s first Challenge Tour triumph came on the eve of the Amateur Championship getting under way in Kent, where he came out on top the last time it was held there in 2006. Nine years earlier, Craig Watson claimed the biggest victory of his career at Royal St George’s, upsetting the odds against Trevor Immelman in the final, and the East Renfrewshire man is among 19 Scots trying their luck in two stroke-play qualifying rounds this week. “The R&A extended my exemption to 20 years this year and, as I’m going down to watch anyway in my role as Walker Cup captain, I might as well play for two rounds before watching some proper golf from Wednesday onwards,” he said. “It is nice to go back, though whether or not I’m thinking that on the Monday or Tuesday morning might be debatable.”

Glencruitten left-hander Robert Macintyre, last year’s beaten finalist at Royal Porthcawl, is also in the field, as are Scottish Strokeplay champion Liam Johnson and Rory Franssen, who played for Europe in the Arnold Palmer Cup in Atlanta last weekend.

Still on the amateur front, Lanarkshire won a closely-contested Scottish Boys Area Team Championship at Stranraer where the top four teams were covered by just two shots. On 366, Lanarkshire pipped Dunbartonshire by one, with Fife and Renfrewshire both on 368.