Birdie-birdie-birdie finish secures dramatic win for Johnston in Morocco

Rookie professional Liam Johnston finished with three birdies to maintain his strong start on the Progolf Tour with victory in the Open Prestigia in Morocco.

The 25-year-old from Dumfries stood four shots behind both Germany’s Jonas Kolbing and Antoine Schwartz of Italy when he arrived on the 16th tee in the final round of the 54-hole event in Casablanca.

But Johnston’s 3-3-3 sign off on the Tony Jacklin-designed Prestigia Golf layout, coupled with Kolbing and Schwartz both dropping two shots over that closing stretch, saw the Scot come out on top in a dramatic finish. The late burst gave Johnston a 12-under-par 203 total, having stormed into contention after picking up eight birdies as he raced to the turn in 27 en route to a second-round 64.

Johnston won both the African Amateur Championship and Scottish Open Strokeplay Championship last year before turning professional.

In his first outing in the paid ranks, he birdied the last at Carnoustie to make the cut in the Dunhill Links Championship before closing with a 68 at St Andrews to finish joint 47th.

He then won the Progolf Tour Qualifying School in Germany and had already got his 2018 campaign off to a promising start by finishing runnerup in the season’s opening event, the Red Sea Egyptian Classic, last month.

Johnston, who graduated with a psychology degree from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, is coached in Dumfries by James Erskine.

He joins Paul O’hara and David Law in becoming a winner on the Progolf Tour, a third-tier circuit that is associated with the PGA of Germany.