European Tour

Rai wins maiden Rolex Series title after play-off in Scotland Inbox

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Final Round Report

Aaron Rai defeated Tommy Fleetwood in a play-off to win his first Rolex Series title at the 2020 Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open.

The Englishman signed for a wonderful 64 to set the target at 11 under par but countryman Fleetwood holed a 20 foot putt on the last for a closing birdie to take it to extra holes at The Renaissance Club.

It was advantage Fleetwood off the tee as Rai found a bunker but the 25-year-old rescued his par and when Fleetwood three putted from just off the green, Rai had his second European Tour title.

Rai’s victory comes after he finished second at last week’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, and moves him into the top five on the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex, and the top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

England’s Robert Rock missed out on a place in the play-off by one shot after a bogey on the last in a round of 70, with Australian Lucas Herbert and home favourite Marc Warren at nine under after rounds of 65 and 66.

Warren bogeyed the last to slip to nine under, a shot clear of Swede Marcus Kinhult, England’s Ian Poulter and South African Erik van Rooyen, with Ryder Cup Captain Padraig Harrington, English pair Eddie Pepperell and Matthew Southgate, Frenchman Victor Dubuisson and Finn Kalle Samooja at seven under.

Player Quotes

Aaron Rai: “It’s incredible. I played a lot in Scotland growing up, dreamed of playing in a European Tour event in Scotland. To be able to play in it was incredible a couple of years ago and to be able to go still further is an incredible feeling.

“I didn’t really see many leaderboards all the way around. I knew we had to play well and knew we had to cope pushing forwards but luckily I had a good couple of breaks and also played very well, so I’m very pleased.

“It’s a dream come true. If I’m honest, to win any event on the European Tour is amazing. You have to play some world-class golf, but for it to be a Rolex Series with the class of field that was this week is deeply satisfying, and yeah, incredibly pleased.

“The Race to Dubai wasn’t something I was thinking of, or certainly winning it wasn’t something I was thinking of before this week.

“Any time you’re up there in the Race to Dubai, whether it’s winning it, whether it’s in the top three, top five, it shows a great degree of consistency with some really top results, as well. So still a long way to go in the season but it’s a great spot to be in.”

Tommy Fleetwood: “I hit a poor putt and that’s the end of it, really. Aaron played 72 holes very, very good, and it was Aaron’s time and Aaron’s week. Congratulations to him.

“Obviously, I’d have loved it to have been me, but overall looking back at the week, there’s so many putts that probably cost me being further in the tournament but that’s golf. There’s a lot of asset in the game that you have to do well to win, and you know, yeah, one putt on 18 on the 72nd hole, putting cost me at the end. But that’s life and try again next week.

“I played really, really good, especially the back nine today, felt really in control of my game, and you know, end of the day, finish second — nobody beat me over 72 holes and like I say, it was Aaron’s time and that’s how it goes.”

Final Round Scores
273 A RAI (ENG) 70 69 70 64, T FLEETWOOD (ENG) 69 68 69 67,
274 R ROCK (ENG) 65 67 72 70,
275 M WARREN (SCO) 70 69 70 66, L HERBERT (AUS) 66 65 79 65,
276 I POULTER (ENG) 67 66 73 70, M KINHULT (SWE) 66 69 71 70, E VAN ROOYEN (RSA) 71 69 71 65,
277 V DUBUISSON (FRA) 73 68 67 69, K SAMOOJA (FIN) 65 70 74 68, E PEPPERELL (ENG) 68 70 71 68, M SOUTHGATE (ENG) 68 71 71 67, P HARRINGTON (IRL) 71 70 69 67,
278 D HORSEY (ENG) 70 67 72 69, R MACINTYRE (SCO) 74 67 68 69, J WANG (KOR) 73 68 70 67, H LI (CHN) 68 70 74 66, V PEREZ (FRA) 69 69 74 66,
279 W ORMSBY (AUS) 66 70 70 73, L WESTWOOD (ENG) 62 71 76 70, G FORREST (SCO) 71 66 72 70, B STONE (RSA) 69 70 70 70, B HEBERT (FRA) 70 70 69 70, A BJ?RK (SWE) 63 75 72 69, J LUITEN (NED) 63 72 76 68,
280 A SULLIVAN (ENG) 67 72 69 72, A ARNAUS (ESP) 75 66 67 72, G HIGGO (RSA) 72 67 72 69, S SHARMA (IND) 70 67 76 67,
281 C SHINKWIN (ENG) 69 70 70 72, N COLSAERTS (BEL) 68 70 72 71, E FERGUSON (SCO) 69 70 73 69, M LEE (AUS) 66 74 72 69, M WALLACE (ENG) 70 71 72 68, T DETRY (BEL) 71 69 77 64,
282 J WINTHER (DEN) 71 69 69 73, S JAMIESON (SCO) 64 73 73 72, S CROCKER (USA) 73 68 70 71, J SMITH (ENG) 70 70 72 70, J SURI (USA) 70 70 72 70, M ANTCLIFF (AUS) 69 70 75 68,
283 G GREEN (MAS) 70 71 67 75, M LORENZO-VERA (FRA) 68 66 76 73, F LAPORTA (ITA) 71 70 70 72, C LEE (SCO) 65 71 76 71, M FITZPATRICK (ENG) 69 72 72 70, A OTAEGUI (ESP) 71 70 73 69,
284 M KORHONEN (FIN) 68 70 72 74, C SYME (SCO) 70 69 71 74, F ZANOTTI (PAR) 69 67 75 73, R H?JGAARD (DEN) 68 70 73 73, J CAMPILLO (ESP) 71 67 75 71, B WIESBERGER (AUT) 70 69 77 68, A WU (CHN) 70 70 77 67,
285 M PAVON (FRA) 68 72 74 71,
286 D HOWELL (ENG) 72 67 74 73, E MOLINARI (ITA) 74 67 72 73, M KAWAMURA (JPN) 69 69 77 71,
287 P LARRAZ?BAL (ESP) 72 64 76 75, G COETZEE (RSA) 71 69 75 72, S HEND (AUS) 71 70 77 69,
288 J MORRISON (ENG) 72 67 74 75,
289 C HILL (SCO) 71 70 73 75, S V?LIM?KI (FIN) 68 69 78 74, J LAGERGREN (SWE) 68 72 75 74,
292 C WOOD (ENG) 69 71 79 73,
**
142 T PULKKANEN (FIN) 70 72, D BURMESTER (RSA) 71 71, M KAYMER (GER) 72 70, G MIGLIOZZI (ITA) 72 70, S BROWN (ENG) 72 70, T AIKEN (RSA) 72 70, J HARDING (RSA) 73 69, S HORSFIELD (ENG) 76 66,
143 G MCDOWELL (NIR) 69 74, D LAW (SCO) 69 74, R FOX (NZL) 69 74, R MCEVOY (ENG) 70 73, S NORRIS (RSA) 71 72, T PIETERS (BEL) 71 72, S HEISELE (GER) 71 72, J STALTER (FRA) 72 71, H PORTEOUS (RSA) 73 70, R JACQUELIN (FRA) 74 69, D WILLETT (ENG) 74 69,
144 P HANSON (SWE) 69 75, J JANEWATTANANOND (THA) 70 74, A QUIROS (ESP) 71 73, S KJELDSEN (DEN) 72 72, J CATLIN (USA) 72 72, J HANSEN (DEN) 73 71, P O’HARA (SCO) 75 69, O WILSON (ENG) 77 67,
145 C PAISLEY (ENG) 72 73, N ELVIRA (ESP) 72 73, J GUERRIER (FRA) 73 72, A CHESTERS (ENG) 73 72, R PARATORE (ITA) 74 71, R BLAND (ENG) 74 71, N BERTASIO (ITA) 75 70, S GALLACHER (SCO) 75 70,
146 L BJERREGAARD (DEN) 70 76, K BROBERG (SWE) 73 73, R FISHER (ENG) 73 73, G STORM (ENG) 74 72, D DRYSDALE (SCO) 76 70, T OLESEN (DEN) 76 70,
147 C BEZUIDENHOUT (RSA) 69 78, O FISHER (ENG) 72 75, M CAMPBELL (NZL) 73 74, M KIEFFER (GER) 73 74, N FENWICK (SCO) 80 67,
148 J WALTERS (RSA) 75 73,
150 J SCRIVENER (AUS) 75 75,
151 L GAGLI (ITA) 77 74, R RAMSAY (SCO) 80 71,
152 P LAWRIE (SCO) 73 79, L CANTER (ENG) 76 76, R LANGASQUE (FRA) 79 73, A LEVY (FRA) 80 72,
153 T BJ?RN (DEN) 77 76,
154 M JIM?NEZ (ESP) 78 76,
157 A PAVAN (ITA) 81 76,
**
OUT G BHULLAR (IND) 77 DQ, P WARING (ENG) 74 WD, A JOHNSTON (ENG) 71 RT,