'Nothing special' Rory Franssen throws down gauntlet to fellow Scots

Yet, minutes after arriving at the Borders venue on Tuesday morning, the 27-year-old was the centre of attention as fellow players, caddies, tournament officials and friends offered congratulations to the HotelPlanner Tour’s newest champion after his weekend win in the Infortar Estonian Challenge.

“It's lovely,” admitted Franssen, a charming young man who, as an amateur, always looked as though he was destined to taste success in the professional ranks but has had to wait patiently to make his mark on the DP World Tour’s development circuit. “Everyone's been so kind. I've never seen so many messages on my phone.”

Did they include some that were unexpected? “Oh man, I’m trying to think,” he added, smiling. “Paul Lawrie messaged me, which was really kind. Yeah, just a lot of people I hadn’t spoken to in a while and you just kind of lose contact with. It's kind just to see everyone who was watching it.”

Having secured his HotelPlanner Tour card through topping the Order of Merit on the Tartan Pro Tour, the circuit set up by Lawrie to provide playing opportunities for Scottish-based players during the Covid pandemic and now an official satellite tour for the second-tier tour, Franssen arrived in Estonia as a very unlikely winner-to-be. He’d only made two cuts in 11 starts and was a lowly 218th on the Road to Mallorca Ranking.

“Just out of nowhere,” he said of landing a three-shot success after posting an impressive 19-under-par total in Tallinn, picking up a career-best cheque for just over £41,000 and now sitting 30th on the points list in the season-long battle for 15 DP World Tour cards. “It’s been such a struggle this year. But then it just happened for me in one week.

“A couple of times, like Le Vaudreuil in France, I had three good rounds and the last round was bad. It does knock your confidence, but obviously it's all just so new travelling to new places. I spoke to my brother, Cameron, last week after I’d missed the cut in the Czech Republic. He kind of settled me down and said, ‘just stick to what you're doing’. Yeah, I just found a little bit of belief, and then that was it.”

Franssen hails from Inverness, where he cut his golfing teeth, and then lived with his parents in Auchterarder for a spell before moving to St Andrews, where he shared a flat with James Blyth, who currently caddies for Daniel Young, the 2025 Scottish Challenge winner. Franssen is back living with his parents in Edinburgh and admits that career-changing opportunities like the one he has just experienced wouldn’t be possible without the financial support he’s had since turning professional in 2023.

“Oh, it's been unreal,” he said of that before heading off to hit balls with his coach, St Andrews-based Finten Bonner. “Steven Gardiner Construction has supported me since I turned pro. One day at Auchterarder, I was out hitting balls on the range and Stephen and Marc Gardiner and Richard Bullen came up to me and asked ‘have you got any sponsors?’ I said, ‘not really’ and they're like, ‘oh well, we'll help you out’. That's so kind and ever since they've been brilliant with me.

“Through also supporting Danny Young, I think they had a good understanding of what pro golf is about and know that you’ve got to be patient. I was just happy to have that pay off for them and Orion, which is an Inverness connection, with Alan and Paul Savage also having supported me since I turned professional, as well and Kingbarns, too.”

Franssen’s game definitely flourished during a spell at the University of Missouri, where he reckoned fellow Scot and DP World Tour card holder Euan Walker had been one of his “great role models” while he is also grateful to the support he received as an amateur and continues to do so from Scottish Golf.

”I think I've been a lucky case,” he declared. “I was in the Scottish Golf set up and I’ve had support from the Scottish Institute of Sport, which is the gym and the physio. Earlier this year, I had an injury and they were able to get me an MRI and physio and what not. I've been very lucky.

“You've got to keep going if you can. It's one of those games that's expensive to play. So the longer you can do it, the better. Somebody might not hit their prime until the mid-30s and even later. If you can keep going and feel like you're working on the right thing, then it can happen.”

Franssen is among 17 home players teeing up in the £250,000 Scottish Challenge in a field that also includes former Ryder Cup player Chris Wood, two-time DP World Tour winner Eddie Pepperell and Southport man Matthew Baldwin, who hit the opening shot in last month’s 154th Open at Royal Birkdale.

“I was fourth reserve last week and, after Gregor Graham asked me if I wanted to play a practice round with him, I had to go back and say, ‘sorry, I can’t because I’m not in the field’,” said Franssen, a smile as wide as the River Teviot nearby showing exactly what it meant to him to not only now be playing but heading out in Thursday’s opening round in one of the marquee groups with Wood and American John Catlin.

“Even just getting in this week is class and it’s another chance to try and play well. I played here last year through the Tartan Pro Tour. I had a good first round and then struggled, but it's a brilliant course.”

What a turnaround, indeed, and now Franssen is hoping other Scots can feed off his success. “They've all played with me and know that I'm nothing special,” he declared, not being the kind to blow his own trumpet. “I'm just the same as them, so they can definitely win out here as well and do even better.”