O'Hara says Auf Wiedersehen and wins Powerade qualifier

Glasgow’s Paul O’Hara swapped Germany for Scotland to book his place in the Powerade PGA Assistants' Championship.

O’Hara, 26, of Clydeway Golf Driving Range, overcame difficult conditions at Auchterarder Golf Club to win the Scottish qualifying event.

He was the only player to go under par after carding a round of 68 at the Perthshire venue.

O’Hara pipped Scott McGrenaghan (Cochrane Castle) and Colin Robinson  (Prestonfield Golf Club), by one shot.

Now they - along with 15 other qualifiers from the event - will play in the £32,500 FootJoy-supported championship final, which will be held on August 7-9 at Coventry Golf Club.

O’Hara has spent the last two years playing almost 40 tournaments in Germany.

But now he has decided to stay at home to take the PGA route instead and is a first year assistant.

O’Hara said: “I wanted to give myself a broader knowledge of the game and prepare myself to do more coaching, so I decided to do the PGA course.

“Plus I was travelling back and forth to Germany to play out there. I was always based in Scotland so this was better for me.”

But O’Hara admitted it was four seasons in one day at Auchterarder.

He added: “It started with snow, there was hail, rain and wind, but the conditions eased off a bit and that allowed me to put a decent score together.

“I had a run of birdies midway through and that allowed me to finish under par. But I was four under at one stage and ended the day with two bogeys at 17 and 18.”