Opportunity knocks for Cameron in Scottish PGA Championship

03/09/2020

Ross Cameron is on course to land the most prestigious win of his career after posting his third successive sub-par round in the Loch Lomond Whiskies Scottish PGA Championship.

In doing so, he overcame soggy and blustery conditions at Deer Park Golf and Country Club to return a three-under-par 69 and go into the final round bolstered by a four-shot advantage.

All of which will be uncharted territory for the 41-year-old whose highest placing in the Tartan Tour’s flagship event thus far is tied-11^th.

“It won’t be the first time I’ve gone into the final round of a tournament leading by a shot or two but this is different,” said the pro from Peterhead who represents Saltire Energy.

“I’ve never had this sort of advantage before and none of my leads were in a huge event like this one.

“As a proud Scottish PGA Member, winning this would undoubtedly be the highlight of my career.”

Having enjoyed relatively benign conditions in the first two rounds and begun the third sharing the lead with Scott Henderson, Cameron had to adapt his game to cope with the ill-effects of Mother Nature’s handiwork.

Heavy overnight rain caused the start to be delayed by an hour and gusts of wind added to the challenge presented by a course designed by Peter Clark and two former PGA captains, Peter Alliss and Dave Thomas.

Reflecting on his round, Cameron added: “I hit the ball nicely on the first two days but the conditions were very different today.

“It was a case of hanging in there - and making birdies thanks to two good putts at 16 and 17 made all the difference.”

Birdies at the first and eighth holes, tempered by a bogey at the par-four fourth, also played a part in him opening up a substantial lead over Henderson and the chasing pack.

Henderson, who posted a one-over-par round of 73, remains Cameron’s closest challenger in terms of numbers but the biggest threat to his chances of victory may well come from Tom Higson.

The 32-year-old, who is attached to Gleneagles, delivered the tournament’s best round to date – a birdie-laden and bogey-free eight-under-par 64 to go seven-under and move up to third place.

As a result he trails Cameron by five shots but is one clear of a trio comprising Ross Munro, defending champion Paul O’Hara and three-time winner Chris Kelly, and two ahead of Chris Doak whose six-under-par 66 was the second best round of the day.

Full scores can be accessed here