Rickie's play towards the end of his round was exceptional, simple as that. The start of his round was uneventful until his last four holes, where his run for the lead began. He birdied three of the last four holes and on the 18th, hit an excellent drive then a wedge to a couple of feet for an easy birdie and a one shot lead over Matt Kuchar, who was in the clubhouse already at 11-under. Once again, he's shown us why he's such a good links golfer. On a more interesting note, it seems that Fowler always wins when the golfing world doubts him the most. Shortly after being ranked as one of the most overrated golfers, he won the Players Championship. After a disastrous US Open, many predicted a downward spiral for him, but he silenced all his critics with his well-deserved win this week.
Raphael Jacquelin, who was in the group behind Fowler, needed a 2nd shot eagle hole-out from the 18th fairway to force a playoff with Fowler. And he nearly pulled it off, hitting a wedge shot just past the hole and spinning it back to about a foot. Despite not forcing a playoff, with his good finish the 41-year old Frenchman now qualifies for the Open Championship next week. He will be playing his first major since the 2012 Open Championship.
Today's final round saw a big change in weather conditions as the round progressed and as a result Gullane played tougher and tougher. Winds picked up throughout the day and morning players, like Scotsman Marc Warren (64 today), were at a clear advantage. With these conditions though, we saw a variety of shots from players, typical in links style, and much movement in the leaderboard. One thing's for sure; this round was great preparation for St. Andrews next week.
Finally, here's how our picks finished for the week:
1) Padraig Harrington: T62 at 2-under
2) Justin Rose: 74th even par
3) Rickie Fowler: WINNER
That's another pick win for us! Padraig Harrington couldn't capitalize on two good opening rounds and Justin Rose had a very bad weekend, shooting 72/76 without a single birdie today. Better luck to both of them next week.
And that's a wrap for our coverage of the Scottish Open. Congratulations once again to Rickie Fowler! Our coverage stays in Europe this week and in Scotland for that matter, for the third major of the year. That's right, join us next week for the 144th Open Championship (British Open) from the Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland next week.
-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews
Rickie Fowler Wins the 2015 Scottish Open
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