Brandon Stone of South Africa plays his shot from the 11th tee during a practice round prior to the 2021 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island Resort's Ocean Course FILE - The phenomenal final round 60 in 2018 at the Scottish Open saw Brandon Stone capture his third European Tour victory - now called the DP World Tour (DPWT) - in the five years since he had turned professional. Photo: Stacy Revere/Getty Images/AFP
As the Scottish Open began at The Renaissance Club, North Berwick, Scotland, on Thursday, it’s worth looking back at one of the finest finishes in European Tour history when South Africa’s Brandon Stone stormed to the title with a closing 10-under-par 60.
That phenomenal final round saw Stone capture his third European Tour victory — now called the DP World Tour (DPWT) — in the five years since he had turned professional.
Among those victories were his national open in 2016 — The SA Open — which was his maiden win on the DPWT.
It seemed then, after the victory in Scotland that Stone would continue his steady rise in the game. He also banked 1.5 million Euros (R77 million) in 2018 on the DPWT which remains his career best earnings in a year by some margin.
But four years later, he had lost his playing privileges on the DPWT and had to drop down to the European Challenge Tour.
“At the end of 2022 I was playing probably the worst golf I’d ever played since I was a kid,” he said in January this year.
“I needed to step back, take a broad look at the game and reassess where I was, what I could work on and build from the foundation up,” he says. “We did just that.”
Heading into the final Challenge Tour event of the 2023 season, Stone found himself in the 20th and final qualifying spot for the DPWT. It meant there would be incredible pressure on Stone to maintain his position in order to secure his playing privileges for 2024.
A tie for 11th though, came as welcome relief as Stone won his right to play among golf’s elite once more.
“The Challenge Tour was so brutal and that last day in Mallorca was the most nerve-wracking experience I’ve had in many years. I felt like I ran out of juice.”
While 2024 has not been outstanding for Stone just yet, it’s been steady as he is 77th on the moneylist and well inside the top 113 players who will retain their playing rights for next season. He has also had four top-10s, though Stone has also missed eight cuts.
His performances this year then, may just be the elixir he needs as he looks to make his way back to the top of leaderboards and lifting trophies again.
This week though, Rory McIlroy will be one of the favourites as he gears up for next week’s Open Championship.
Related Topics: