Henry takes route 66 to Order of Merit title with victory in Kerr Investments 36-holer

A late brace of birdies gave John Henry the honours in the Kerr Investments 36-hole Order of Merit Pro-Am at Dumfries & Galloway.

In glorious conditions, Henry made hay while the sun shone and made a telling move on the final day with gains at the 16^th and 17^th in a four-under 66.

That gave the Wilson Golf-attached PGA pro an eight-under aggregate and a two-shot win over the former DP World Tour champion, Alastair Forsyth.

“It’s always nice to win and that feeling of being in the hunt coming down the stretch is why we all play,” said Henry, who picked up the first prize of £2,240 and hoisted himself into the top-10 on the Order of Merit.

Henry and Forsyth had been sharing the lead after a pair of 66s on day one and it was Forsyth who stole a march in the closing round with a birdie on the first and an eagle on the second

After a stream of early pars, Henry, who won his first OOM title at Strathaven last season, moved up the gears on the long fifth and launched a 5-iron into 20-feet before rolling in the eagle putt.

“That got the party started,” he added. “I’d been hoping to pick up a couple of shots early on but didn’t.

“I needed to get something going and that was a big moment.”

In a nip-and-tuck tussle, Forsyth was still holding onto a slender lead coming to the closing stages.

But as the former Scottish PGA champion stumbled with back-to-back bogeys at 14 and 15, Henry pounced with two birdies on his last three holes to snatch the victory.

“I wasn’t playing that well earlier in the season, but I seem to have found something in my swing which is working now,” said Henry, who is set to become a dad for the first time at the end of September.

“I’m trying to get all my golf in now before that so it’s nice to hit some form.”

Cameron Marr and Paul O’Hara shared third on five-under while Rob Paterson was a shot further back in fifth.

In the team event, there was a double celebration for Dumfries & Galloway members, Alan McCabe and David Edgar, as they both notched their first hole-in-one.

Alan’s ace came at the fourth while David repeated the feat on the eighth.

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