Blairgowrie’s brilliant talent Connor Graham romped to an impressive five-shot victory in the R&A Junior Open, the biggest win of his already impressive career.
The 15-year-old from the Rosemount club had a second successive five-under 67 at Monifieth Links to claim the prestigious title.
Connor had a two-shot lead on favourite Ratchanon “TK” Chantananuwat of Thailand going into the final round but pulled away with three birdies and an eagle in his final round. He didn’t record a bogey in the final 36 holes of the 54-hole event.
‘It’s a great feeling’
Congrats to @paullawriefound ambassador on some fantastic golf 👏👍 https://t.co/8UarauhsmY
— Paul Lawrie (@PaulLawriegolf) July 13, 2022
“It’s a great feeling to come out on top in such a big event,” said Connor. “TK’s obviously a very good player and it feels good to perform well against him and other good players.
“This win ranks very high just because of the way I performed here. I didn’t drop a shot today under the pressure, so I’m really pleased about that.”
Chantananuwat is also 15 and became the youngest player in history to win a world ranked tournament, the Trust Golf Asian Mixed Cup, on the Asian Tour earlier this year. He was also courted by the rebel LIV Golf Tour and played in their opening event at Centurion last month.
But he was unable to keep pace with Connor, after both picked up three shots in the first four holes.
Watched by 1999 Open champion Paul Lawrie, who has appointed Connor as an ambassador for his Foundation, the young Scot’s eagle at the fourth maintained his two-shot advantage.
The gap became three when the Thai bogeyed the sixth. It went out to four when Connor responded with a birdie at the seventh, chipping in from 40 feet off the green.
Another birdie at the tenth allowed the Blairgowrie teenager to coast to victory with solid pars the rest of the way.
He finished with a hugely impressive 13-under total of 203. Chantananuwat held on for second place on eight-underm, while Canada’s Eric Zhao finished four shots further back in third.
‘The front nine was crucial’
“The front nine was crucial because I could have easily dropped a shot or two to let him in,” said Connor. “But I kept my foot down and holed that pitch shot at seven to keep the momentum going.”
“I was glad to see that go in because it gave me a four shot lead. I needed that because the back nine was playing hard into the wind.
“It was pretty special to see Paul come out and watch me play. I’m one of his ambassadors, and he’s helped me a lot in getting my golf to the next level.”
Connor won four times in 2021 and reached the semi-finals of the Scottish Amateur at just 14. This is his first win of 2022. He was second in the prestigious Lytham Trophy and seventh at the St Andrews Links Trophy.
Scotland’s Grace Crawford, the Scottish Women’s Open Strokeplay and R&A Girls champion from North Berwick, finished second in the girl’s section of the Junior Open behind Rosie Bee Kim of England.
The Junior Open is usually held every other year at a venue close to the Open Championship. It had not been held since 2018 after the 2020 edition was cancelled due to the Covid pandemic.
Connor joins previous winners Patrick Reed (2006), who would go on to be Masters champion and a Ryder Cup star. Another Scot, David Inglis of the Glencorse club in Edinburgh, won the inaugural event in 1999.