James Wilson produced one of the performances of his career to-date at Southerness Golf Club as he finished second in the Scottish Men’s Open Championship.
Close House-based James held the lead several times in the 72-hole event, including after he shot a new course record 62 in the first round. He went on to shoot rounds of 69, 65 and 68 for a 12 under-par total, finishing three shots behind English international Callan Barrow.
James, who birdied the final two holes of the event to finish five shots clear of third place, said: “Contending over four days in the first big event of the season was a great feeling. It wasn’t what I was expecting heading up to Southerness, but it shows where my game is when I can go into an event on a really tough track with a laid back approach and shoot 12 under-par for four rounds.
“Shooting seven under-par on the opening day was a great feeling – it’s always great when you have those rounds where you just can’t miss at the big tournaments.
“The event came down to the last six holes in the final two rounds, where Callan was able to keep making birdies through the toughest stretch. You can run into golf like that in these tournaments and I take my hat off to him for the way he kept making birdies, particularly in the last round when he played the back nine in five under-par.
“Being in contention each day, including going into the back nine of the final round, was another great bit of experience and I’ll take a lot from the week into the rest of this season.”
