Bearsden golfer Ewen Ferguson earns his biggest professional prize yet

Ewen Ferguson of Scotland (right) shakes hands with Gregory Havret of France after his victory in the bronze medal match. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)

The 22-year-old normally plays on the second-tier Challenge Tour and the innovative event at Rinkven International Golf Club in Antwerp was only his eighth on the main circuit.

But he found the step up - and the competition which combines stroke and match play elements - very much to his liking.

Ferguson made it all the way through to the semi-finals before falling to his Modest! Golf stablemate Guido Migliozzi.

But he bounced back to beat former Scottish Open champion Gregory Havret by four shots in the bronze medal match.

That landed him the third prize of around £55,000, lifted him to 136th in the Race to Dubai and earned him a spot in the next regular European Tour event, the €2 million BMW International Open in Germany.

After his win over Havret, Ferguson admitted: “I feel really good. I was really grinding out there as I felt really tired starting the match.

“But, after making a birdie at the second, I picked myself up and felt better. It got quite windy out there and I was happy to keep my ball under control.”

“I was focused on trying to not hit it too hard as I have a habit of doing that sometimes and it worked out quite well.”

The former British and Scottish Boys’ champion added: “My family will be buzzing watching me, as will everyone at Bearsden Golf Club, where I have always had great support.”

Ewen’s fine performance in Belgium was the latest encouraging result in what is shaping up to be his best year since turning professional in 2016 after helping Great Britain and Ireland defeat the United States to win the Walker Cup the previous year.

At the start of May he finished joint 13th in the Challenge de Espana, followed that up by tying for 12th in the Prague Golf Challenge and then just missed out on a third successive top 20 finish when he was placed joint 21st at the D+D REAL Czech Challenge.

He had orginally been set to play in the Rinkven event through an invitation before getting into the field under his own steam following a couple of late withdrawals.