Portrush delight for Neil

Amateur Championship: Bradley Neil yesterday became the first Scot for a decade to win the Amateur Championship and immediately started to look forward to the rewards the coveted title would bring.

The new champion had immediate words of praise for the stunning Portrush layout. “This is a truly great course in magnificent condition and I very much hope to be here when the Open is played here in 2019 or 2020. I will have some fantastic memories of this course.”

In a fiercely-contested final, the 18-year-old Blairgowrie star overcome South African Zander Lombard 2&1. Now he can prepare to take his place in next month’s Open at Royal Liverpool and will be invited to the US Open and almost certainly the Masters.