'It's wild' - Scottish amateur Cameron Adam on being in Betfred British Masters mix
Matt Fitzpatrick leads at The Belfry as Ryder Cup qualification battle heads for fascinating final day
Not since Shane Lowry achieved the feat in the 2009 Irish Open has an amateur won on the DP World Tour and the magnitude of the task is illustrated by the fact that just three players have ever pulled it off.
In a year that had already seen Lottie Woad win against the professionals on the Ladies European Tour when landing the KPMG Women’s Irish Open, though, Cameron Adam is producing some more amateur dramatics in the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo at The Belfry.
The 22-year-old, who was the only amateur in the field for the $3.5 million event, celebrated making the cut on his DP World Tour debut by producing an eye-catching bogey-free third-round 66 at the Sutton Coldfield venue.
The splendid effort left Adam, who was picked earlier in the week in Great Britain & Ireland’s team for next month’s Walker Cup at Cypress Point in California, sitting a lofty joint-fifth on nine under, just three shots behind leader Matt Fitzpatrick.
“Yeah, it just kind of happened - it’s wild,” said the Royal Burgess player of a round that contained birdies at the third, fifth, tenth and 15th before a brace to finish on the Brabazon Course, venue for four Ryder Cups.
“Between yesterday and today, it was like night and day. I felt as though full control of the ball and that’s the difference one night can make in this game. We really played a percentage game, didn’t take on any unnecessary risks and it paid off.”
More of the same in the closing circuit and there’s a good chance that the left-hander will be starting his professional career with a DP World Tour card in his hand. He currently tops the Global Amateur Pathway and will pick up valuable points this week as well as securing a few more from that Walker Cup appearance.
He’s 20th at the moment in the World Amateur Golf Ranking at the moment and, if he can move inside the top 20 by mid-October, he’ll be a full-time DP World Tour player next year and, if not, a HotelPlanner Tour card will be a good consolation.
“It's a big week for me in terms of securing where I can play next year as I’m making that final push to secure DP World Tour status,” he admitted, having grabbed his opportunity with both hands after securing a spot from the tournament host through playing in the Faldo Series when he was a junior.
Adam’s caddie this week is Gregor Tait, the pair having become good friends since meeting in the final of the 2023 Scottish Amateur Championship at Royal Dornoch, where Adam came out on top over his Suffolk-based opponent.
“It’s funny how it all started and how close we are now,” admitted a smiling Adam. “I want someone I can trust but also someone I can chat to about random stuff. It’s great for me to have that in between shots and he is good at what he does.”
Standing on the tenth tee, it looked as though Tait had to talk Adam out of going for the green. “I was kind of joking a little bit with Gregor,” he admitted. “I’d hit it so good all day, but we’d set the gameplan to lay up there, so it’s something I need to stick to - and I am glad I did.
“I was joking with Gregor after hitting my second at the tenth that I still should have gone for it off the tee - but not really. We are just playing a disciplined game and trying to give myself as many chances as possible.”
His name had appeared on the leaderboard after getting to four under the day and that strong finish meant he’ll be out in the third last group on Sunday with Swede Simon Forsstrom.
“There’s a big leaderboard on 17 that I got a glimpse of and I saw that my number was at the bottom bit of the first page and made a nice two-putt birdie there,” said Adam, who is being cheered on by dad Steve, his gran Maureen and uncle Keith.
“The last is such a tough hole, but I hit a great tee shot, leaving me a great number, and it all kind of fell into place. I was left with 124 yards and hit a 50-degree wedge.”
With a major champion in Fitzpatrick leading the way and former Genesis Scottish Open winner Alex Noren also ahead of him, it will be a tough task for Adam to do a Lottie Woad, so to speak, but you never know.
“It’s not necessarily something I am thinking about as you don’t want to get too far ahead of yourself,” he declared. “I just want to keep taking one shot at a time, one hole at a time. That’s what we did today and it added up to a low score. If you stay in the present, it makes things easier.”
Fitzpatrick, the 2015 winner at Woburn, has the title in his sights again, having moved into pole position on 12 under after carding a 68 to sit one ahead of Noren (65), with Marco Penge, who equalled the course record with a stunning 63, and Nicolai Hojgaard - the Dane stormed home in 29 - both one shot further behind and Matt Wallace alongside Adam on nine under.
Though Noren insists he’s not in the frame, it means an intriguing final day lies in store at the end of a year-long qualification battle for Europe’s Ryder Cup team, with Rasmus Hojgaard, who needs to finish in a two-way tie for 29th or better to secure the final automatic spot at the expense of Shane Lowry, sitting joint-14th heading into the closing circuit.
“I know Luke gives you probably the PC line of ‘yeah, it’s a good headache’ but it’s probably doing his head in,” observed Fitzpatrick, who is bidding to make the team for a fourth time. “He’s probably so annoyed because he probably wants one guy to power through and be like ‘at least my decision is made’.
“To me, there’s a ton of people in the mix and ton of things up there that can happen. I wouldn’t want to be Luke Donald, I’ll be honest with you, because obviously people are going to be upset as they feel they deserve to be there and deserve to be there, too.”
Ewen Ferguson, the only Scot other than Adam to make the cut in the opening event on the DP World Tour’s ‘Back 9’ Swing, sits joint-46th on one under after a 74.
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.