Staff Reporter.
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Chris Gotterup impressively holds off Rory McIlroy and the chasing pack for the biggest win of his career with a remarkable Scottish Open success.
Gotterup shot 4-under 66 in the final round to finish at 15 under for the tournament, two shots ahead of McIlroy and England’s Marco Penge.
McIlroy, aiming to win the tournament for the second time in three years, led after back-to-back birdies on the fourth and fifth holes. But after a birdie on No. 8, he had pars across each of the last 10 holes.
Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard (64) and England’s Matt Fitzpatrick (67) shared fourth place at 12 under.
Gotterup used four birdies on a six-hole stretch ending at No. 12 to move to the top. He held a two-shot edge until his bogey on No. 15, where he hit his tee shot in the rough.
But on the next hole, Gotterup rolled in a 10-foot birdie for a two-shot advantage again.
Gotterup fought back tears as he said: “I just hung in there tight and tried to keep it together.
“It’s amazing. It’s all hitting me. It’s just so cool. I played really well this week and I knew today was going to be tough.
“It was a pleasure to be out there with Rory and obviously all the support he gets is amazing, but it was nice to kind of ruin that a little bit.”
The best round of the day belonged to England’s Justin Rose, who shot 63 and moved to sixth place at 11 under, which was one shot better than Austria’s Sepp Straka (67).
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler finished tied for eighth at 9 under after his second 67 of the tournament.
Defending champion Robert MacIntyre of Scotland had a 71 for the second time in the tournament and finished at 2 over and tied for 65th.
Because of weather concerns mostly related to fog, tee times were moved up and golfers were placed in threesomes.