Exciting time for Scottish golfer as he tees up PGA Tour and DP World Tour card chance

In his amateur days, it was always felt that Sandy Scott had a game that would stand him in good stead when he moved into the professional ranks. The Covid pandemic, though, couldn’t have hit a worst time, meaning that switch had to be delayed and he then suffered a worrying wrist issue.

Slowly but surely, however, Scott started to see light at the end of the tunnel and, boy, has it just become exciting for the 26-year-old, whose younger brother, Callum, won the Silver Medal as leading amateur in the 152nd Open at Royal Troon in July.

With his back against the wall, he finished second in the final event of the season on the PGA Tour Americas, claiming a top-ten spot in Fortinet Cup standings and, as a result of that, securing a card on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour, the PGA Tour’s feeder circuit.

That also earned Scott an exemption into the final stage of the PGA Tour Q-School, meaning he’s got a chance of joining both Bob MacIntyre and Martin Laird in flying the Saltire on the US circuit next season.

But there’s more. Trying to give himself as many options as possible, the former Texas Tech player - one of his team-mates was Ludvig Aberg - has already cleared the first hurdle in the DP World Tour Qualifying School and is currently preparing for the second of three stages in Spain at the end of this month.

“As it turned out, solo second was the worst I could have finished to get the spot, which is exactly what I did,” said Scott of his brilliant performance in the season finale on the PGA Tour Americas, the Fortinet Cup Championship at TPC Toronto. “It was certainly stressful coming down the stretch and more so watching people come in and I was delighted it was a case of job done.”

In 15 events, the 2019 Walker Cup player teed up in Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia before the second half of the campaign was staged in North America. “I struggled when we got into the Canadian stretch as we were playing some courses that required low scoring,” he added. “We were playing in some tournaments that had eight under as the cut and that’s something I’ve not really experienced before. So I had to adapt quite a bit, but I stuck to my game. I focused on consistency and it ended up paying off in the end, so I was delighted with that.”

Professional golf can be a lonely place at times and even more so when players are outside their comfort zone. “After turning pro, I found my first year on the PGA Tour Americas very challenging for a number of reasons,” admitted Scott. “The language barrier was obviously a big one and I just felt a level of uncomfortableness at certain events.

“I try to pick up stuff as I go along. It was Spanish for the most part and Portuguese in Brazil. Funnily enough, I felt most comfortable in Brazil because almost everyone was struggling with the Portuguese and I felt they were walking in my shoes for a bit (laughing).

“Probably couldn’t go much past ordering at a restaurant, unfortunately, but I picked up a few things as we went along. We had guys who spoke a good amount of Spanish who helped me get through the first year, so a big thanks to them. But I then found that experience hugely useful for this year because I felt a bit more comfortable due to certain situations being much easier to deal with.”

The PGA Tour Q-School presented by Korn Ferry is taking place at Ponte Vedra Beach in Florida in December, when Scott is likely to be joined by fellow Highlander Russell Knox. First up, though, is the DP World Tour one after Scott joined Calum Bruce, Kieran Cantley, John Henry, John Paterson, James Ross and Calum Fyfe in coming through the First Stage at various venues around Europe.

“Yeah, I mean certainly going to Q-School this year is going to feel much different, having such a strong card in the back pocket,” said Scott, who is currently back home in Nairn and working there with his coach, Murray Urquhart. “I have a chance of earning a PGA Tour card, which is fantastic as that’s what I want to be and to have that opportunity is great.

“At the time I entered the DP World Tour Q-School, it was in the middle of the season on the PGA Tour Americas and it wasn’t until the last day of the season that I earned my Korn Ferry Tour status, so a decision, albeit not a very difficult one, was taken about what the rest of the year was going to look like for me.

“Earning a status in Europe would leave me with a decision to make and it would be a good decision to have to make. I think if I earned a status in Europe, there would be a good chance that I’d play in Europe, but it’s a decision I’d have to talk through with my team to come up with the answer.

“It’s going to give me the opportunity of three extra tournaments going through each stage at this time of the year when you have a limited amount of events to play in, so it will allow me to stay sharp by playing in some strong fields. If that’s the least I take away from it, it is still going to be a positive. It’s a pretty simple decision to still play in the Q-Schools.

“Q-School is a challenging experience no matter what. I felt good going into this one as I had played at that site (Donnington Grove in Newbury) the year before and played well. I pride myself on my consistency this year and I had a good mindset going in that if I played my consistent good golf, I’d give myself a good chance of progressing through the stages. I’m happy to get through to the second stage.”

Which, of course, means more air miles for this particular globe-trotter.