Leven Links lover Greg Dalziel defends Tartan Pro Tour title at Fife venue

In last year’s Leven Links Classic presented by The Mackay Clinic, Dalziel followed an opening 70 with scintillating scores of 62-63 to win by two shots on 17 under par.

It was job done again for the Airdrie man in the same event as he carded efforts of 66-66-65 for a 14-under total and a one-shot success in this year’s edition.

“I played really well for the last three days, which was nice to see as it’s been a bit of a struggle so far this season,” said Dalziel, who picked up a cheque for £4,875 for his latest title triumph on the Fife coast. “It’s just been an up and down year with everything, but it all seemed to click at the right time this week.”

Dalziel, who held a one-shot lead heading into the closing circuit, held off a posse of English challengers to stay out in front.

Jack Hawsby, who signed off with a joint-best-of-the-day 64, finished as his closest challenger, with James Wilson, another raider from south of the Border, sharing third spot with Seb Sandlin on ten under.

A further three English players - Michael Hay, Christian Brown and Will Coxon - all finished joint-fifth on nine under.

“I obviously won at Leven as well last year, so I felt a bit of comfort from that and comfortable knowing I’d done it there before going into the last round,” added Dalziel. “That’s my first win this season, but my fourth in total on the Tartan Pro Tour, so hopefully I can kick on from this.”

The victory has lifted him to ninth in the season-long Order of Merit, with John Vogelpohl, an American who is attached to Gleneagles, and Michael Stewart still leading the way in the battle for two coveted 2027 HotelPlanner Tour cards.

“There’s five events left this season, so the goal would be to win another two to secure automatic promotion to the HotelPlanner Tour,” declared Dalziel. “That might be a bit far-fetched, but it is certainly something to aim for or just see where I can get to on the Order of Merit.

“This certainly puts me back in the picture again, so just keep the head down and push on to the end of the season and hopefully finish off the campaign on a strong note. Yeah, I’m glad to have kick-started my season.”

The next event on Paul Lawrie’s circuit is the Fairmont St Andrews Classic, which gets underway on the last day of this month.