Latest news with #ConnorGraham
Scotsman
30-07-2025
- Sport
- Scotsman
'No reason ...': Amateur tipped as contender in Scottish Challenge
Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Big events keep coming thick and fast for Connor Graham, with an appearance in this week's Farmfoods Scottish Challenge supported by The R&A coming on the back of the Blairgowrie teenager teeing up in The 153rd Open then helping Great Britain & Ireland win the St Andrews Trophy. He's taking it all in his stride, though, and, according to one of the favourites in this week's £250,000 HotelPlanner Tour event at Schloss Roxburghe, there is nothing to stop Graham getting himself in contention at the Borders venue. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'The opportunity is great and it's not just an opportunity,' said David Law, the 2018 winner at Macdonald Spey Valley in Aviemore of a total of 21 Scottish players being in the field for Thursday's opening round. 'They can go and compete, they can go and win the golf tournament. There is no reason why they can't do that. Brothers Connor and Gregor Graham are both teeing up in this week's Farmfoods Scottish Challenge supported by The R&A at Schloss Roxburghe near Kelso | National World 'I'm sure someone like Connor won't have any fear going out here and trying to do that. The French lad, Martin Couvra, won out here as an amateur and he's gone on to do great things. You can see someone like Connor going down a similar route and there's no reason why he can't win this week. If not, he can still take a lot from the week.' As well as a fellow amateur in local man Jack McDonald, Graham is being joined in the line up by his big brother Gregor, who is in his rookie season as a professional after securing his HotelPlanner Tour card through a new Global Amateur Pathway. 'It's been a busy summer,' admitted Connor, who was in with a chance of making the cut at Royal Portrush before seeing his week unravel on the back nine in the second circuit on the Antrim coast. 'Yeah, this is the only event we are playing in together this year and it is nice for it to be in this tournament. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'It helps that you are playing in such big events as that makes it quite easy to get ready for them and have the energy to play in these events. Yeah, I know that if I play well enough that I can compete and that is the goal for this week. I'll get a good look at the golf course the next couple of days and get as ready as I can.' Gregor's season has been hampered by a wrist injury, which, frustratingly, flared up again just after he'd recorded his best finish so far in the paid ranks when tying for 15th in the Interwetten Open in Austria. Connor Graham pictured during The 153rd Open Championship at Royal Portrush a fortnight ago | Tom Russo | The Scotsman 'It was after Abu Dhabi (in April) when it first happened,' said last year's South African Amateur champion. 'I then had eight weeks off before playing again and it flared up again over in the Czech, but hopefully after a couple of weeks rest it will be ok now for the rest of the season. 'It feels good now so I am ready to play this week. I was pushing hard to make it, to be honest. I could have taken this week off and played a bit more in the coming few weeks, but I wanted to be here playing in my home event. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'It is pretty cool (to be teeing up on this stage with Connor). We were talking about how we've not played in the same event since the St Andrews Trophy last year.' Connor, who picked up three points from four games, and Cameron Adam, who won four out of four, helped Dean Robertson's Great Britain & Ireland side win that event against the Continent of Europe in Madrid last weekend. 'We all played really well and to beat the Europeans the way we did was pretty fun,' said Connor of a thumping 16.5-8.5 victory at Real Club de la Puerta de Hierro in Spain, meaning Great Britain & Ireland now hold the Curtis Cup, the Vagliano Trophy and the St Andrews Trophy after a hat-trick of successes inside the last year. Gregor Graham's rookie season on the HotelPlanner Tour has been hampered by a wrist injury |'Dean did a really good job prepping us and getting us ready for the week. That definitely helped us perform the way we did.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad It now looks as though Graham and Adam will borh be playing for Great Britain & Ireland again in the Walker Cup at Cypress Point in California in early September, though, not surprisingly, Graham has another big event on the horizon before that exciting assignment 'After this, I've got a week to practice before I go over to the States for the US Amateur then straight back to college after that,' he said, smiling. 'It would be great to use this to really push on' After a run at Newmachar, Schloss Roxburghe is staging the Scottish Challenge for the first time, with Law being joined by fellow former DP World Tour players like Eddie Pepperell, David Horsey, James Morrison, Renato Paratore and Adri Arnaus. 'Having a good week in any of these tournaments can be big for your season but especially this one for the Scottish lads,' said Gregor Graham. 'There are still plenty of events to come and it would be great to use this week to really push on.' 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Scotsman
28-07-2025
- Sport
- Scotsman
Notable absentees in Scottish Amateur Championship at Gullane
Connor Graham and Cameron Adam among star players sitting out national championship Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Alexander Farmer's bid to become the first player since 1983 to successfully defend the Scottish Amateur title has been boosted by some notable absentees for this week's event at Gullane. Showing that the national championship no longer holds the standing it once had, Connor Graham, Cameron Adam and Jack McDonald are all playing instead in other events. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Blairgowrie teenager Graham, who played in The Open a fortnight ago, is teeing up in the Farmfoods Scottish Challenge at Roxburghe Schloss, where McDonald is also in the field as an amateur. Alexander Farmer shows off the trophy after winning last year's Scottish Amateur Championship at the St Andrews Links Castle Course | Chris Young/Scottish Golf Meanwhile, 2023 winner Adam, who also played at Royal Portrush two weeks ago, is competing in the Western Amateur in the US along with Niall Shiels Donegan, who would have been another leading contender for the Scottish crown. It means that the likes of Farmer, 2022 winner Oliver Mukherjee and two-time beaten finalist Gregor Tait are some of the top names heading into battle on the East Lothian coast. Not since Charlie Green achieved the feat 42 years ago has a player successfully defended this title but, on the back of his victory at the Castle Course in St Andrews 12 months ago, Farmer is ready to give it a go. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'I've never played Gullane, so I'll get two practice rounds in and get to know the courses and, hopefully, make it through to the match play,' said the 20-year-old Kilmacolm player. 'In match play anything can happen. You can play really well one day and the other guy plays better, or you can play badly and win. Match play is weird that way.' Fraser Walters among the locals to look out for A field of 256 players will tackle Gullane No 1 and No 2 over the opening two days on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the top 64 progressing to the knock-out stage.
Daily Record
19-07-2025
- Sport
- Daily Record
Former World number one tips Scottish golf prodigy everybody is raving about to go all the way
Ryder Cup legend praises Tartan ace Connor Graham and fellow amateur boosted Lee Westwood has handed a glowing commendation to Scots kid Connor Graham. The Perthshire teenager made his Open debut at Royal Portrush having come through qualifying at Dundonald. Unfortunately for Graham, he did not manage to make the cut, but the former World No.1 sees the talent in the youngster who is 34 years his junior. Westwood played alongside Graham for 36 holes during the Ayrshire qualifier and poured praise onto the kid as he assessed the new breed of young guns making their way in golf. He said: 'Really impressed. I'd say over the last couple of weeks with the qualifying and then the practice rounds, I've seen some really good young talent in the qualifying. 'Connor Graham from Scotland, a couple of good lads from Charlotte, UNC. Some great young players, which I'm not surprised about. There's so many good young players now, but they've come through the qualifying.' Graham's fellow Scots amateur Cameron Adam also missed the cut with Daniel Young as Bob MacIntyre remained Scotland's sole weekend representative. But Adam believes the experience will count for plenty and said: 'I can compete at this kind of level. To be able to turn up here and not have my A game and kind of come this close to making the cut kind of just proves to me that, if I played well, I would be right up there. That's the biggest positive I've got to take. 'I've gone out and tried and I've just not quite performed to my peak. That happens. It's difficult to really control that. 'The biggest thing is confidence. I've come here and been able to handle it with all the emotions. That's the biggest thing about coming to a stage like this for the first time, like how I felt on the first tee, just getting there and playing in that position, it's something you can't really put a value on. That's got to be the biggest positive I can take from this. 'I just try to stick to my normal self and keep to my routines and trust that that's what's got me here. It's more than good enough to compete here. 'Again, you feel different things out on a stage like that than you could ever feel anywhere else. It's just kind of dealing with that, those feelings within your body, whether it's the butterflies in the stomach or the shaky legs. 'It's just learning little techniques on how to deal with that and be able to hit shots when it happens because it's going to happen. Everyone's human. People get nervous. Learning different techniques that I can deal with that in those situations is going to do me good going forward.'
Scotsman
17-07-2025
- Sport
- Scotsman
Scottish teenager overcomes biggest nerves of career to give himself fighting chance at The Open
18-year-old Graham tees up chance to make the cut on his major debut Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Connor Graham overcame feeling the 'most nervous' he'd ever been to give himself a chance of making the cut on his major debut in The 153rd Open at Royal Portrush. Playing in the same group as 2018 winner Francesco Molinari, the 18-year-old Blairgowrie amateur signed for a two-over-par 73 in challenging conditions in Northern Ireland. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'It was pretty good,' said Graham, who won The R&A Junior Open at Monifieth in 2022, of how his day had been. 'I enjoyed it.' Connor Graham pictured at Royal Portrush with his coach and caddie, Fintan Bonner | Tom Russo | The Scotsman The Scot created history two years ago at St Andrews as the youngest-ever Walker Cup player while he also played on a winning Junior Ryder Cup team in Rome later that year. But he admitted of the challenge on the first tee on this occasion: 'That was probably up there with the most nervous I've ever been and I was just glad to be able to be in play after the tee shot.' Level par after 12 holes, he was wobbling a bit as shots were then dropped at the 13th, 15th and 16th, but a birdie at the 17th repaired some of that spillage. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Yeah, it was nice,' he said of that timely boost. I made a few silly mistakes on that back nine but almost holed out on 17, hit the hole, had a tap-in birdie, which definitely felt nice.'
Scotsman
17-07-2025
- Sport
- Scotsman
Scottish teenager overcomes biggest nerves of career to give himself fighting chance at The Open
18-year-old Graham tees up chance to make the cut on his major debut Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Connor Graham overcame feeling the 'most nervous' he'd ever been to give himself a chance of making the cut on his major debut in The 153rd Open at Royal Portrush. Playing in the same group as 2018 winner Francesco Molinari, the 18-year-old Blairgowrie amateur signed for a two-over-par 73 in challenging conditions in Northern Ireland. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'It was pretty good,' said Graham, who won The R&A Junior Open at Monifieth in 2022, of how his day had been. 'I enjoyed it.' Connor Graham pictured at Royal Portrush with his coach and caddie, Fintan Bonner | Tom Russo | The Scotsman The Scot created history two years ago at St Andrews as the youngest-ever Walker Cup player while he also played on a winning Junior Ryder Cup team in Rome later that year. But he admitted of the challenge on the first tee on this occasion: 'That was probably up there with the most nervous I've ever been and I was just glad to be able to be in play after the tee shot.' Level par after 12 holes, he was wobbling a bit as shots were then dropped at the 13th, 15th and 16th, but a birdie at the 17th repaired some of that spillage. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Yeah, it was nice,' he said of that timely boost. I made a few silly mistakes on that back nine but almost holed out on 17, hit the hole, had a tap-in birdie, which definitely felt nice.'
