Craig Ross buoyed by landing maiden Tartan Pro Tour triumph in St Andrews

The 33-year-old, who played his amateur golf at Kirkhill Golf Club in Cambuslang, birdied the first hole in a play-off against Kieran Cantley to land the St Andrews Classic presented by Petrasco.

After opening with scores of 70-72, Ross started the final round five shots off the lead but stormed through the field on the back of a bogey-free eight-under-par 64 - the best round of the week on the Jubilee Course.

His ten-under-par target in the clubhouse was matched by Cantley, who’d shared the overnight lead with Mitchell Cowie, after he signed off with a 69, with victory and a £4,415 cheque eventually going to Ross in the sudden-death shoot-out.

“It feels great,” admitted the 2016 South African Amateur champion. “It’s been a wee while coming, having been close a few times last year and this year as well. It is good to finally get a win under my belt on the Tartan Pro Tour.

“I played really solid in the last round, having had a wee trend of playing some good last rounds this year but always being a bit too far away to get a win and finishing second or third. But it was good enough this time to get me into a play-off.”

The win was a timely boost for Ross after he’d fallen at the first hurdle in this year’s DP World Tour Qualifying School at Dunham Forest in Altrincham last week.

“I struggled a bit in my first two rounds in that but had a good score in the third round before having a bit of a hiccup in the last round to miss out by a few shots, which was a bit disappointing,” he said.

“I’d just not quite been putting everything together and, even in this week’s event, I could have been two or three shots better, to be honest, in the first two rounds before everything clicked in the final round.”

Ross is up to fifth spot on the Tartan Pro Tour Order of Merit heading into the final two events of the season - the Duddingston Classic then the Gleneagles Masters.

“This win definitely helps,” he said of his hopes of now being in the mix for one of those two HotelPlanner Tour tickets up for grabs. “If I can win again, then I definitely have a chance. I’m only 2,500 points behind second place. I don’t think I can catch John [Vogelpohl], but I can maybe catch Mikey [Stewart]. I need a win or a top five in both the final events.”

‘I want to be at same level as them again’

Ross, who has 71 starts on the HotelPlanner Tour under his belt, played in Scotland teams as an amateur ranks with the likes of Grant Forrest, now a two-time DP World Tour winner.

“I do,” he replied to being asked if he felt he could be back playing at the same level as Forrest and others. “There are maybe some things within my game that could be fine-tuned a bit better, but playing with the likes of Grant, Ewen (Ferguson], Bob [MacIntyre) and Connor [Syme] and seeing them doing well, you definitely want to be at the same level as them again.

“I feel I’m just as good as them but have just not quite managed to put it all together yet. It’s about trying to keep going and progress.”