Drummond 'numb' after dream win

New golf sensation Scott Drummond can today count himself a member of an elite two-man club. Arnold Palmer is the other.

Until last night, Palmer was the only player to have won the Volvo PGA Championship, the European Tour’s flagship title, at his first attempt.

That was 1975 and since then the list of players who have tried and failed to emulate him reads like a Hall of Fame – Darren Clarke, Padraig Harrington, Nick Faldo, Sandy Lyle, Ian Woosnam, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Jose Maria Olazabal, Colin Montgomerie, Lee Westwood and many more.

But Drummond did it and however long the event goes on – this was the 50th staging, but the last under Volvo’s sponsorship – there will be no more surprising winner than the 30-year-old Scot.

“I can’t comprehend it. It’s a dream come true. I’m a bit numb. It was surreal,” said Drummond after a magical closing round of 64 at Wentworth had given him a two-stroke triumph over Argentina’s Angel Cabrera.

Drummond came into the week 435th in the world and 186th on the European Order of Merit. He had missed seven of his previous eight cuts, had earned little more than £11,000 (€16,500) all year and never more than £8,288 (€12,460) from one Tour event in his career.

Now he, his wife Claire and their month-old daughter Keira are the proud owners of a cheque for almost £420,000 (€631,000) – and another £5,000 (€7,500) from the wager he placed on himself at 500/1.

“I’ve never had a bet on myself before, but my mind coach Jeff Pettitt told me he’d put £10 (€15) on each way and I asked him to do the same for me,” said Drummond.

Ireland’s Darren Clarke finished tied for fourth after carding a three-under-par final-round 69 in Wentworth yesterday. The Ulsterman ended the tournament on 15 under par, four shots behind Drummond.

Drummond had never finished higher than 16th in any tournament and his goal was “four solid rounds". He would have been happy with a top-30 finish, knowing the money for that would be a big step towards retaining his Tour card in this his rookie season.

He actually turned professional in 1996, but made four vain attempts to come through the qualifying school and it was only via the “second division” Challenge Tour last year that he graduated onto the main circuit.

The 1,000th event in Tour history saw him as a new man. He was inspired and for some reason he cannot explain he remained relaxed throughout.

He did not look at a single leaderboard in his entire final round and even on the last asked his caddie Kevin Smith to tell him what it meant when he holed his final putt.

Smith did not have to utter a word. The tears in his eyes and the cheers of the record crowd left Drummond in no doubt that the trophy, the top prize, a place in the Open in July and a five-year Tour exemption was his.

A hug with his 70-year-old father, who funded his early career, meant just as much.

He also earns a place in the NEC World Championship in Ohio in August, the penultimate event in the race for the Ryder Cup. A race he suddenly has an interest in.

So too has Nick Faldo after finishing joint fourth – a big improvement on missing his three previous cuts.

On Friday the 46-year-old, who decided not to go for the captaincy in the hope of earning a record 12th cap seven years after his 11th, was talking of those hopes “fading fast”.

But now, with confidence boosted, he moves on to the US Open qualifying competition in Florida next Monday and after that to the build-up for the Open at Troon in July. As a three-time winner of that, of course, he is exempt.

Colin Montgomerie is not in the field for either at present. Since he has decided not to play the qualifier for Shinnecock Hills his only chance of playing the US Open is a special invitation, while for the Open the next opportunity to gain a spot is the qualifier at Sunningdale on June 28.

Playing majors appears to have been put on hold for the time being, though, while he tries to handle the break-up of his marriage.

“It’s all happened at the wrong time, unfortunately. I will get back into them one day, but not yet,” he said.

A incident on the 17th green yesterday appeared to sum things up. He marked his ball, picked it up, dropped it and saw it fall on the marker and move it. It was a one-shot penalty and his 47th place was his worst PGA performance since his debut.

And this a week after his 128th place in Germany – his worst display anywhere since his 1987 Tour debut.