WARREN NOT DRIVEN MAD
MARC WARREN left the Renaissance with no regrets after dramatic final-hole heartache cost him a chance to win the Scottish Open.
The Glaswegian made a brilliant run at the title and a birdie on the last would have put him in the play-off only for his loose drive to cost him dearly.
Despite finding his ball after a hunt, the lie was awful and his attempt to blast out stuck him close to a wall on the fairway for his third, unable to make the green. The 39-year-old missed out on the silverware by two shots but it’s proof that he’s getting back to his best.
Warren said: “It’s not the end of the world. I’m just really pleased how good I felt out there, the commitment and obviously the shots I was pulling off on the back nine were great.
“The tee shot on the 18th was a sore one.
“It was in our minds that anything left was out of bounds, so anything down the right half.
“It was just a little out of the heel, so it stayed straight instead of the usual draw.
“It felt like a good, committed swing but I ended up with a horrible lie, the worst I’d had all week. I was just glad then to see it because I was getting nervous for a couple of minutes looking for it.
“If the second shot had been Thursday, Friday or any other day, you chip it out to the fairway. But the situation meant I had to give it a go and I was glad to see it wasn’t right up against the wall.”
Warren came close to winning the Scottish Open at Castle Stuart in 2012 but it was a different feeling this time. He questioned last year whether he wanted to keep playing but returned from lockdown refreshed and won his fourth European Tour event at the Austrian Open. That secured his card for the Renaissance and the tied-fourth finish after a 66 to reach nine under is another huge step in the right direction.
Warren said: “It’s been an incredible week, grinding like mad Thursday morning and then when we came off the course the weather turned perfect.
“The way they were scoring on Thursday afternoon, it felt my chances were gone. To be in contention after that and have such a good back nine to give myself half a chance was great.”