I got into golf in Glasgow back in the day with my dad as he was a good golfer. He held a couple of golf records in the area and used to win all the club championships at The Bearsden Golf Club, in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. At the time, I must have been around five years old, I thought it was just so cool that he was able to do that.
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Some people might not know, but I went to school in the USA when I was 14. I went over to Hilton Head Island and played all the AAGA events there, competing against likes of Joaquin Niemann and all these boys. Being so young then it was just brilliant and I just loved golf. It was then I came back and started doing really well as an amateur.
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I won the Boys Amateur Championship in 2013 when I was 17, then the Scottish Boys Championship and Scottish Boys Strokeplay. You don’t realise at the time who you are beating, but fast forward to now, they are some of the best golfers in the world. It would still give me all the confidence needed at that young age. Boys Home International, European Boys Team Championship, European Amateur Championship, and the Walker Cup were all obviously incredible to be a part of as well. Just being a part of all those as an amateur are memories I will never forget.
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Having a good amateur career, I was lucky enough to get a couple of starts on the Challenge Tour and eventually keep my card on the tour. Next step was to get onto the DP World Tour, but then COVID hit. Weirdly, I actually think Covid helped my progression. I played around 20 events on the DP World Tour in 2020 because they froze everyone’s categories, so it was a free year basically. I didn’t play too badly that year, but it was a great experience. Then the following year, 2021, I was like “right this is my year, let’s go for it”. I started working with a new coach Jamie Gough, which really helped as I used to play with a big nasty draw. He then got me fading it and controlling the pace of my swing more, so my wedge game dramatically improved. So I definitely owe a lot to him.
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My maiden DP World Tour win came in 2022 just down the road in Qatar. So I love going back there! It was incredible to win such a historic event in such a cool part of the world, which I now call home.
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That win I think persuaded me a bit more to move out here, which was around 18 months ago now – I feel like I just play better in the Middle East, different grass, different styles, just something I wouldn’t get back at home. So the move has honestly helped me play better all over the world.
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It’s not just me living here, in my building down in the marina, we’ve got loads of DP World Tour golfers there. Richard Mansell, Adri Arnaus, Guido Migliozzi, Renato Paratore, Adrian Meronk so there are loads of us there. It’s quite funny, we bump into each other in Spinney’s picking up the groceries! But we always hang out for dinners, golf obviously, and play paddle tennis together all the time so it’s a nice community we’ve got and all being around the same age helps, so it’s really nice.
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I’ve been with Modest! Golf Management now for 5 or 6 years, which is founded by Niall Horan. It’s great because he is obviously golf obsessed and I love my music, especially country music, so we have a lot in common. He actually sorted me out meeting Lewis Capaldi recently which was unreal. That’s the thing with Niall, he throws me into his side of the limelight, which is away from golf which I like, because it’s nice to see things from a different perspective. I obviously repay him by agreeing to partner with him in as many pro-am’s that I might be in!
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At the moment I’m playing well. But I just really want to win again. I’ve won twice on tour now, but I just need to figure out what it is that you need to do to get that little good break of the ball when you’re in contention and I just get over line again. There’s no feeling like winning, it’s just unbelievable.
Main Image: Cobra
