Joint-fourth-placed finish also secures a qualifying spot for The Open
Wednesday 7 August 2019 09:09, UK
Andrew 'Beef' Johnston made a welcome return to form with a sensational 62 in the final round of the ASI Scottish Open which earned him a place in The Open.
The 30-year-old Englishman recently revealed his mental health struggles following his rise to fame over the last few years.
Johnston admitted he had lost his appetite for golf at one stage, but is now in a better state of mind after working with psychologist Ben Davies.
The Londoner has been struggling a little with his game on the course, though, but he has enjoyed a good week at The Renaissance Club and ended it with the lowest round of his career to storm up the leaderboard into a tie for fourth place.
After starting the day in 38th place, he held a share of the lead with overnight leader Bernd Wiesberger on 20 under after making his 10th birdie of the day at the 16th.
That also left him needing two more birdies to card the second 59 in European Tour history, but he narrowly missed from 15 feet at the 17th before bogeying the last after being forced to play out sideways from a fairway bunker.
The resulting nine-under 62 gave Johnston the clubhouse lead on 19 under at the time, but he eventually ended up three shots short of victory, although his performance was good enough to earn him one of the three qualifying places on offer for next week's Open at Royal Portrush, for the three leading players in the top 10 who had not already qualified.
"It's a nice feeling," a tearful Johnston told Sky Sports after completing his round.
"I guess it's been a hard year, so, yeah, I'm happy. I've tried so hard in the last year and to come out and shoot a score like that is just such a nice feeling.
"I was just chatting to [my caddie] Pete, having a good chat, just having fun out there and trying to take next shot, next shot. I just kept chatting absolute rubbish to him to be honest and just tried to keep in that same frame of mind, and just carry on."
Johnston was left with a lengthy wait to see if he had secured a spot in The 148th Open, with the leaders teeing off just as he finished his round, but in the end he earned his reward.
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He said: "You want to be playing in tournaments, you want to be playing in Opens, in majors, all the best tournaments and we'll see if it's good enough. If not, so be it."
Johnston was also quick to pay tribute to the spectators in North Berwick this week after the backing he received.
"The reaction I've had has been amazing. I can't thank everyone enough for that," he said.
