Justin Walters closed in a hurry on Sunday in the European Tour’s Scottish Open presented by AXA at Fairmont St Andrews, St Andrews in Fife as he carded a bogey-free nine-under-par 63 to finish in a share of 16th.
The tournament was a debut European Tour victory for Spaniard Adrian Otaegui, who capped a superb week with a losing 63 of his own to win by four strokes over Matt Wallace, but Walters vaulted 35 spots up the leaderboard after his disappointing third round of two-over-par 74.
He reached the turn in three-under after making birdies on seven, eight and nine. He added a fourth immediately after the turn on the 10th, and then two more on 12 and 14. He closed his homeward nine in the same fashion as his outward journey, making birdies on 16, 17 and 18 to round off a flawless round of golf.
He finished the tournament sharing 16th with eight other players, including Brandon Stone and Bryce Easton. Easton made four birdies on his way to a finishing 68 and his best finish since the resumption of action after the pandemic-enforced break on the European Tour. Stone carded a final two-under 70 for the third round in a row in the tournament.
Justin Harding finished well with a five-under 67, a good way to finish off his European campaign before heading to the US to prepare for his second tilt at the Masters in November.