| -15 R Fox (NZ); -14 A Noren (Sweden), C Shinkwin (Eng); -13 R McIlroy (NI), A Rozner (Fra); -12 D Gavins (Eng) |
| Others selected: -11 T Hatton, R Mansell (Eng); -ten G Forrest, C Syme (Sco); -9 P Harrington (Ireland); -8 R MacIntyre (Sco) |
| Full ranking |
Ryan Fox won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship by fending off Callum Shinkwin and Alex Noren with a stroke at the Old Course in St Andrews.
The New Zealander is ahead of four by the Englishman Richard Mansell after 54 holes.
But Mansell struggled to finish at 76 and tied for seventh as Fox shot 68 to win on 15 under.
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland is tied for fourth, one shot behind England’s Shinkwin and Sweden’s Noren, and one ahead of England’s Daniel Gavins.
Fox had regularly played the event with the late Australian cricket great Shane Warne.
And Fox told BBC Scotland: “I felt Warney was with me this week. You need a bit of golf luck and I felt he was today.
“He loved this tournament and we’ve had a lot of fun here over the years. A lot of people have missed him this week, including myself, but I’m pretty proud to have done the job and to remember him. him like that.”
After the course played Carnoustie, Kingsbarns and the Old Course over the first three days, all returned to the ‘Home of Golf’ for the final round.
Fox collected four birdies on his front nine and three more coming home, with three bogeys meaning he was down to four cents for the day.
Noren’s third consecutive under-69 three and Shinkwin’s 67 put them in contention, but Fox made par on the 18 to seal the win.
“I wouldn’t say I came into this week in good form with a few missed cuts and one takedown, but I always felt this week was going to be a little different,” Fox added.
The Hope of Forrest’s Calling Card
Grant Forrest and Connor Syme were the highest-ranked Scots tied for 10th on 10 under while Italian Open champion Robert MacIntyre was two strokes behind alongside three-time major winner Padraig Harrington.
Forrest says the top 10 will go a long way to securing his tour card with only five regular events remaining in this campaign.
“It’s been a struggle this season,” he said. “I was struggling off the tee and the ball just wasn’t going where I wanted it to go. It’s frustrating. You come off your best year last year and your expectations are to do better every year, what I have done so far this year.
“It takes you to some pretty dark places, but you just have to dig and all it takes is just a week and you find something and start playing well again.”
