Calum Scott claimed the Silver Medal this Sunday, the award that distinguishes the best amateur golfer at the Open Championship, one of the best prizes an amateur can receive in their career. Even more so, as is the case, if you were born in Scotland.
Scott finished with a total of +8, in 43rd place, ahead of Tommy Morrison (+11), Jacob Skov Olesen (+11) and the Spaniard Luis Masaveu (+18), the four who managed to make the cut from the twelve who qualified to play this week at Royal Troon.
Scott is a phenomenal 20-year-old Scottish hitter. He leaves Troon as the second player in the Open in distance from the tee, only behind DeChambeau. He is a native of Nairn, a small town in the Highlands of Scotland, on the shores of the North Sea. The entire population of Nairn fits in the stands installed in Troon and there would still be more than three thousand seats left. “This course is a real challenge, the second nine holes today are some of the hardest I’ve played, but the links at Nairn are not far behind in difficulty playing from the back tees. You could say I was cured of fright by what I’ve played at home all my life,” confessed the young golfer after finishing his round.
The Open Silver Medal is his greatest success as an amateur. He is Number 13 in the world ranking, but he stands out above all for his consistency. He has not won any tournament in his career, beyond some minor junior test in Scotland, but he accumulates a pile of top 10s. Until this Open he has been a kind of eternal second. He finished runner-up twice at the St Andrews Links Trophy, has been 3rd and 5th at the European Amateur Championship, has finished second three times in the United States, where he plays with the Texas Tech University… In short, it is obvious that winning, for now, has been a ball for him, although yesterday in Troon compensates for everything else.
He cried like a child, like what he is, during the last 100 meters of the 18th hole, when he already knew he had won the Silver Medal. “It was very emotional. Both my caddie and my university coach told me yesterday that if the case arose I had to enjoy the moment and let myself be carried away by emotions. It’s something I’ll remember all my life. It was beautiful. In fact, I had to control myself a bit because I still had to make two putts to finish. Of course, I made it difficult for myself,” he assured with grace after finishing with 40 strokes on the second nine and narrowing his comfortable margin over the others.
As we say, Scott studies at Texas Tech University, where he coincided for two years with Ludvig Aberg. The Swede is his beacon to follow. “At the University we knew he was very good, but not that much. Now seriously, I talk a lot with him and ask him for advice. He’s a great person. I hope I can follow in his footsteps. He’s an extraordinary role model,” he explains.
In this sense, Calum, the first Scot to win the Silver Medal at the Open since Sam Locke in 2018, assures that his great goal from now on, in his last year of university, is to win the PGA Tour University and get the PGA Tour card, just as Aberg did in his day.
