Cameron and Higson share the halfway lead in Loch Lomond Whiskies Scottish PGA Championship

02/09/2021

It’s getting tight at the top in the Loch Lomond Whiskies Scottish PGA Championship at Deer Park.

On a shimmering, sun-soaked day, which led to more birdies being blasted than a shoot on the Glorious Twelfth, Ross Cameron and Tom Higson found themselves vying for supremacy on nine-under going into the closing 36-holes.

Cameron’s defence of the title he won on this same venue last year gathered pace with a six-under 66 which was burnished by a putt of some 25-feet for an eagle on the 14^th.

The 42-year-old has missed the cut nine times in 10 events on the third-tier PGA EuroPro Tour this season but the Peterhead man has put those toils behind him on the Arnold Clark Tartan Tour this week as he continues to feed off the Deer Park feelgood factor.

The last player to win back-to-back Scottish PGA titles was Ross Drummond in 1989 and 1990 with the second of those being achieved at Deer Park. Perhaps a good omen, then, for Cameron?

“Coming back to a course where you have won gives you a huge lift,” said Cameron. “I haven’t defended a lot of titles in my career but there’s definitely a good feeling about being here.

“I’m just trying to keep myself grounded because you never know what’s around the corner in this game. I’ve struggled with my driver all season and my game’s not at full tilt but I’m managing to get it round.”

Higson, meanwhile, had manoeuvred himself into the lead on his own with the sixth birdie of his round on the 15^th but a leaked shot on the 17^th saw him drop back into a tie at the top with a 67.

“Ross and I are really good friends and playing in the last group will be great,” said the 33-year-old, who is eyeing a double success on this patch of golfing terrain having won the Deer Park Masters earlier in the campaign. “I’m still fighting it a bit. I hit a 5-iron about 60 yards left, for example, but we’re still in there. You can’t win the event on the first two days. All you can do is put yourself in position.”

Chris Doak, the overnight leader, and James McGhee sit in a share of third on eight-under after a 70 and a 66 respectively while Craig Lee is also on that tally after a best-of-the-day 65.

A sluggish start offered little indication of the assault to come but, having covered his first four holes in one-over, Lee went on the kind of charge that could’ve been accompanied with a fixed bayonet.

Birdies at five and eight got Lee going before he chipped over the greenside bunker and into the hole on the ninth for an eagle-two. A quartet of birdies on the back-nine bolstered the 44-year-old’s push.

Lee was beaten in a play-off by Dean Robertson in the 2006 Scottish PGA Championship and was second again in 2007 and 2009. Here in 2021, Lee is in the hunt once more but the former European Tour campaigner is not getting too carried away by his lofty perch.

“You come through the ranks and wish you’d knocked certain titles off,” he said. “This was one I’d never managed to win and to get my name on it would mean an awful lot to me. But there’s a lot of golf to play yet before I have to start thinking about winning speeches. With my body, it’s hard to keep going for four rounds. Hopefully, the adrenaline keeps me going.”

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