Gallacher and Co are in for a rough ride

Linlithgow ace Stephen Gallacher knows Gullane like the back of his hand and even he admits he’s never seen the course play this tough.

The East Lothian links has long been a winter training base for many of Scotland’s tour pros.

However, the challenge he and his peers will face on these scorched bouncy fairways this week at the Scottish Open, which gets underway today (Thursday) is a world away from anything Gallacher says that he has encountered before.

He said: “I love Gullane. I play here quite a lot so I’ve seen the course and played it in all different conditions, but I’ve never seen it as hard as this.

“It’s proper old school – linksy, sandy, hazy – and the rough is a killer in bits.

“If you’re off the fairway it’s tough enough that you need to worry about it because you then can’t stop the ball for a front flag. It’s just proper links golf.”

He added: “Maybe I have a bit of a heads up on other guys in the field but I don’t really feel I have an advantage.

“It’s all right knowing how to play it – you still have to hit the ball there.

“It’s a tough test with a lot of long par fours, two par fives that are both in different directions, so one is downwind and the other is into the wind.”

Gallacher has endured a tough summer, with four missed cuts in his last seven events and is banking on an upturn on familiar ground.

He said: “These last three weeks have been demanding, I’ve not been playing great but hopefully this place can inspire me a bit because I love it.”

The 43-year-old has fallen to 296th in the world rankings after enduring an injury-hit and inconsistent few years following Ryder Cup success in 2014 and is outside of the top-100 in the Race to Dubai.

He will be part of a starstudded grouping on the opening day ( Thursday) as he is set to tee-off at 1.20pm alongside Matt Kuchar and Lee Westwood.