Richard McEvoy just missed out on a European Tour victory last month but carried that form from Austria to the Scottish Highlands to coast to victory in the SSE Scottish Hydro Challenge.
Carrying a one-shot lead in the final day at Macdonald Hotels’ Spey Valley course, the 38-year-old former Walker Cup player simply pulled away from the field for a four-shot margin of victory, defending champion James Heath making a late run but a long way in second.
It was the Englishman’s first title in 13 years, finishing with a final round 66 for a 16-under aggregate of 268, and his previous victory at the Panasonic Panama Open could hardly have been in a more different setting to a chilly July day in Aviemore.
But from the moment he birdied the second and third, adding three more before the turn including missing a hole-in-one by mere inches at the sixth, there was going to be no other winner
“I never stopped believing I could win again,” he said. “I’ve been playing a lot of good golf this year. I came really close to winning in Austria on the European Tour last month, so I came into this week in really good form.
“I kept my composure well all day. I got off to a great start again, I’ve played the front nine fantastically well this week, and I was five under through nine then six under through ten so I couldn’t have asked for a better start.”
The putts dried up on the inward half but nobody was close enough to get the Essex man’s blood racing.
“I was telling myself the whole time, ‘I can’t get ahead of myself’,” he continued. “I kept playing well coming in, hitting fairways and greens, and the putts just wouldn’t drop. But I did what I needed to do though so I am very happy.”
Heath, who set a record aggregate winning last year, had a storming 64 to finish second, with another Englishman in Matt Ford – who did have a hole-in-one at the sixth – in third a further two shots back. Remarkably, the top trio shared a rental house in Aviemore for the week.
A pretty miserable weekend for the Scots finished on a high as Grant Forrest, probably the country’s top prospect on the Challenge Tour, shot a six-under 65 to move into a top 20 finish – a good return considering his was four-over after five holes on Thursday morning.
The Douglas Lowe Memorial Quaich for top Scottish finisher went to former winner Jamie McLeary, who had a 67 for a seven-under finish in a tie for 13th.
