Golf: Rickie Fowler coming to Gullane

The exciting Californian will be making his second pilgrimage to the east coast of Scotland, having played in last year’s event at Royal Aberdeen in which Fowler finished a highly respectable tied eighth behind winner Justin Rose.

Fowler triumphed after one of the most pulsating finishes to the Players’ Championship for many years when he covered the last four holes in five under par before defeating Kevin Kisner and Sergio Garcia in a play-off at Sawgrass. The Championship Course at Gullane – a unique composite of the No.1 and No.2 courses – will be the location for Fowler ‘s latest start in the event which continues its rotation around Scotland’s golfing regions.

With the great and good of the golfing world set to descend upon St Andrews for the year’s third Major a week later, there can be little surprise that Fowler is excited to be heading back to the Home of Golf.

Fowler, 26, who has climbed to World No 9, enjoyed a top ten finish in Aberdeen last year and followed that up with a tie for second place behind his close friend Rory McIlroy in The Open at Hoylake.

The American also played in Abu Dhabi earlier this season and said: “I’ve really enjoyed travelling to Europe and the Middle East over the past year, and I will also be joining Rory in Ireland this week..

“I had a great couple of weeks playing links golf at Royal Aberdeen and Hoylake last year, and there is no question that my experience of adapting my game to links conditions in Aberdeen contributed to my runner-up finish in The Open the following week. It should be a blast to play Gullane in the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open before heading up the coast to St Andrews the following week.”

Fowler will be joined by a glittering cast of performers from around the globe for the July 9-12 event, including defending champion Rose and World No 1 McIlroy as he looks to fine-tune their games ahead of The Open.