Tom Higson put the finishing touches to a dominant display and eased to a wire-to-wire victory in the Tomatin Highland Golf Links 54-hole Pro-Am.
The Gleneagles pro, who had held a commanding five-shot advantage going into his closing road at Castle Stuart, signed off with a three under-69 for a 17-under aggregate to preserve his mighty margin and win by five from Jonathan Grogan.
It was Higson’s second win in this event in three years – he was also runner-up last season – and his success earned him a cheque for £6,000. He also picked up a bottle of 50-year-old whisky from the sponsors to toast his triumph.
With such a healthy lead after his opening two rounds at Royal Dornoch and Nairn, Higson had left the chasing pack just about requiring snookers.
Would a bogey on his opening hole give the rest a glimmer of hope? Not really. Despite that early stumble, normal service resumed and Higson got back in his stride with birdies at the fourth and ninth.
A trio of gains at 12th, 13th and 16th made it a procession to a coronation and he could even afford the luxury of a bogey on the 17th as he coasted over the line.
Grogan closed with a 66 to barge into second spot on 12-under while Matthew Nixon made a stout defence of the title he won a year ago and shared third with Matthew Ford on 11-under.
Craig Lee, this year’s Arnold Clark Tartan Tour Order of Merit winner, share fifth on nine-under with Neil Fenwick.
CLICK HERE for the final leaderboard at Castle Stuart.
