Brandon Robinson-Thompson didn’t just win the Farmfoods Scottish Challenge; he turned it into his own personal masterclass.
Picture this: you’re heading into the final round with a four-shot lead, and instead of playing it safe, you go ahead and add another four strokes to that cushion.
That’s exactly what Robinson-Thompson did at Newmachar Golf Club, leaving the rest of the field in the dust.
With six birdies and just one pesky bogey, the 31-year-old Englishman signed off with a five-under 66, wrapping up the week at a staggering 22 under par.
That’s not just winning; that’s taking the trophy, polishing it, and putting it on your mantelpiece before anyone else has even realised what’s happening.
Denmark’s Hamish Brown could only look on from eight shots back in second place, probably wondering if he’d accidentally signed up for the wrong tournament.
Robinson-Thompson was as surprised as anyone by the scale of his victory. “I’m a little lost for words at the moment,” he admitted, which is what you say when you’ve just taken everyone else’s lunch money.
“I’ve always felt I had something in me like this. The margin of victory is just the icing on the cake, but it means I’m doing some really good stuff.”
“It wasn’t all plain sailing. I was struggling to find the face towards the end of the front nine, but as the round went on, I just got more comfortable, and the last four or five holes I strung some good shots together and made some nice putts. Finishing like that to seal the deal was really nice.”
He found his groove just in time to blitz the final holes with some laser-guided iron shots and a few well-timed putts. And just like that, it was game, set, and match.
This isn’t his first rodeo, either. Robinson-Thompson clinched his maiden Challenge Tour title at the 2023 Irish Challenge, and he nearly repeated the feat last week at The K Club, finishing in a tie for third.
This victory feels even sweeter in light of that, like finally getting the last word in an argument that’s been dragging on for a week.
“Maybe you could call it redemption for last week. I didn’t do a whole lot wrong in Ireland, I felt like it was all there.”
His coach had given him clear marching orders: win twice if you want that DP World Tour card.
Simple, right? It’s the kind of advice that either paralyses you with fear or lights a fire under you. For Robinson-Thompson, it was clearly the latter.
“My coach said I need to win twice if I want a DP World Tour card. I needed to refocus and rededicate myself in certain areas and it really lit something inside me.
The goal is still to win twice, no matter where it be, and we’re going to do everything we can to do that.” he said with the kind of determination that suggests he might just pull it off.
Meanwhile, South African Robin Williams took third place at 13 under par, narrowly edging out Frenchman Pierre Pineau and Northern Irish duo Jonathan Caldwell and Dermot McElroy, who all tied for fourth.
Bryce Easton, another South African, shot a tidy six-under 65 to secure seventh place at 11 under.
With this win, Robinson-Thompson has catapulted himself into ninth place on the Road to Mallorca Rankings, while runner-up Hamish Brown jumped to third.
Farmfoods Scottish Challenge 2024 Winner: Robinson-Thompson Dominates in AberdeenDenmark’s Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen still holds the top spot, with 1,077 points, but the gap is narrowing.
Next stop? Finland, for the Vierumäki Finnish Challenge. Something tells me Robinson-Thompson might just have a little more magic left in the tank.
