Gorn makes most of late call-up to win 150th staging of Gold Medal at Leven
A b e r d o u r ’s H a m i s h G o r n recorded the biggest win of his career after securing a late spot in the 150th staging of the Standard Life Gold Medal at Leven Links.
The 22-year-old, who plays off plus one, carded rounds of 69 and 68 for a five-under total and a one-shot win from Leven Thistle’s Steven Aitken (7068), with Charleton’s Andrew Davidson (72-68) and Dunnikier Park’s Derek Paton (70-70) both on 140.
D u e t o i t h a v i n g t o b e r e s c h e d u l e d , t h e f i e l d wa s much smaller than normal a n d a l s o w a s n’t n e a r l y a s strong as is usually the case. Nonetheless, Gorn had good reason to feel delighted after finishing ahead of some notable contenders in Matthew Clark, Craig Watson and Graham Rankin, as well as plusfive man Laird Shepherd.
“It is a bit weird, to be honest, as it’s a bit different to winning
t h e A b e r d o u r We d n e s d a y Medal, but it is nice to come out on top in a historic staging o f t h e e ve n t ,” a d mi t t e d t h e winner. “I thought the scores were going to be a lot lower as it was flat calm, but a few of the lads were talking about the pins having been tucked away.”
Gorn, who hails from Orkney, only found out on Friday that he’d secured a spot in the field and had to reshuffle some shifts at Wellsgreen Golf Centre so that he could tee it up.
“I’ve been working there for a year now and my boss, Stewart Whiteford, is ver y understanding about me swapping shifts to play,” he added. “But that meant I was in at 5pm on Sunday after my second round and I found myself re-gripping a couple of sets of clubs before heading back down to Leven to get my medal.”
● E n g l a n d ’s G e o r g i a H a l l p a r r e d t h e s e c o n d p l ay - o f f hole to claim her first LPGA Tour victory on US soil in the Cambia Portland Classic.
The 24-year-old had a chance to win the event in regulation fashion but bogeyed the par-4 18th to card a four-under 68, f a l l i n g i n t o a p l ay - o f f w i t h South Africa’s Ashleigh Buhai with both players at 12 under.
Both women parred the first ex t r a h o l e , t h e 18 t h , b e f o r e Hall’s par on the first secured victor y for the 2018 Women’s Open winner at Royal Lytham.
● In-form Tom Higson backed u p a b r i l l i a n t o p e n i n g 6 4 with a 68 to win the PGA in Scotland’s Sandy Pipey Young Masters at Royal Dornoch.
Fi n i s h i n g o n e i g h t u n d e r, the Gleneagles Hotel player finished t wo shots ahead of b oth Kyle Go dsman (Inver - ness) and Greg Dalziel (Scott Clelland Golf ).