Scotland's shining golf talent takes inspiration from fellow 'small-town kid' Bob MacIntyre

Darling, one of the brightest golfing talents - male or female - Scotland has produced for some time, is gearing up for her first full year in the professional ranks, having secured a full card for the 2026 Ladies European Tour after finishing joint-fifth in the circuit’s Qualifying School in Morocco in December.

The 22-year-old’s first outing of the year will be in next week’s $5 million PIF Saudi Ladies International in Riyadh in a field that is being spearheaded by seven-time Solheim Cup player Charley Hull and also includes major winners in Celine Boutier and Danielle Kang.

Like MacIntyre, Darling enjoyed a glittering amateur career. Like the Oban man, the Bonnyrigg woman has an old head on young shoulders. And, like her fellow Scot, she has her sights set on climbing all the way to the top of the ladder.

“Yeah, absolutely,” replied Darling to being asked if MacIntyre’s success in recent years, having landed multiple wins on both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, played in two Ryder Cups and recently climbing to a career-high fifth in the world rankings, had been inspiring after Catriona Matthew, in particular, had filled that role when she started out at Broomieknowe. “If you are Scottish, I think you are going to be inspired by him. Even if you are not Scottish, I think you are still going to be inspired by Bob.

“Just a small-town kid and it’s fantastic to look and see what he has done so far in the game. He also seems like a really nice guy and I think that’s something to look at, too. Yeah, he’s done great. Good for him as it shows that anything is possible. I’ve always had that same attitude - that anything is possible. And just because you are from a small town in Scotland, it doesn’t mean you can’t achieve certain things. So, it’s really cool to see what he’s doing.”

Amateur career had ‘lots of nice moments’

Darling was just 13 when she created history as the youngest-ever winner of the Scottish Girls’ Championship in 2017. She landed the same title the following year, when the inaugural R&A British Girls’ Under-16 Championship also fell to her. She was a two-time ANNIKA Award finalist during a four-year spell at the University of South Carolina and played in three Curtis Cup matches, including a wonderful win in her last appearance for Great Britain & Ireland at Sunningdale in 2024.

“Yeah, I am very, very happy,” she said of her career so far. “I’m not the type of person who likes to look back and be proud of myself, which is something my psychologist says I should take a moment more often. I’m just happy with how I have handled situations so far, to be honest. My amateur career was pretty successful with lots of really nice moments. But I am really excited to see what the next couple of years have in store for me.”

Her aim was to be playing on the LPGA this season only to fall at the first hurdle in the US circuit’s Q-Series following her switch to the paid ranks last summer. That was “incredibly disappointing” and could easily have had a knock-on effect at the LET Qualifying School, but it was both classy and gutsy as she came through two stages in North Africa to set up an exciting 2026 campaign.

“Obviously my sights are still on the LPGA, but the LET is going to be a really good place for me to start,” she declared, admitting she feels grateful to PIF, Aramco and GolfSaudi for securing her invitation for next week’s event before heading to Australia for the first time for three tournaments then teeing up in a double-header in South Africa before ending her first phase of the season in Mauritius.

“But I don’t think the LET Q-School would have gone the way it did and been as successful as it was for me without the learnings I had at the LPGA Q-Series. The first round was great, but then in the second round I mentally let it get to me. You’ve got all these questions like ‘what if this happens?’ or ‘what if that happens?’ You are looking at the cut line and that’s what was kind of going on in my brain at the LPGA Q-School.

LPGA Q-Series blow had silver lining.

“I learned from it. There’s a saying that it’s ‘never a failure if you learn from it’ and that is true. I wouldn’t have been able to have as good a week as I did in the LET Q-School if I hadn’t had that experience. So I am very grateful for that as it allowed me to have a bit of a plan mentally for when all those ‘what if?’ questions were thrown at me.

“There are obviously times when it is hard. We all know that golf is not the easiest of sports at times. But, you know what, it is incredibly rewarding and if you allow yourself to have that perspective and have quite a positive mindset, you know that you can really turn any situation on its head.”

Darling, who is part of the Modest! Sport stable that also includes Tyrrell Hatton, Ewen Ferguson, Connor Syme, Leona Maguire and European Solheim Cup captain Anna Nordqvist among others, spent a week in the Bahamas, where she accompanied a group of young Scottish girls on a trip arranged by Scottish Golf in conjunction with the Sean Connery Foundation, at the start of the year. Since returning from the Caribbean, she’s mainly been practising at Gullane, where she’s a member, or, when the weather has been “too nasty”, indoors on a Trackman simulator at Broomieknowe, her home club.

“I could have been somewhere warm, but I am building a bit of resilience and a bit of toughness by practising here in Scotland,” she said, smiling. “It’s not been easy as it’s been pretty bad weather, but it is what it is and I’ve actually been pretty proud of how I’ve prepped over the past couple of weeks.”

After four years as a proud member of the ‘Gamecocks’ for four years, has it been difficult to adjust to life away from the University of South Carolina? “I didn’t expect to miss college as much as I have, to be honest,” admitted the psychology graduate, who has Ian Muir (swing coach), Andy Paisley (putting coach), Will McConn (psychologist) and Chris Robinson (strength and conditioning coach) supporting her in the background.

‘Being surrounded by eight other girls can be hard’

“Even this week, the team was travelling out in California and I want to be there and experience things with them. But, at the end of the day, you’ve got to move on at some point and I am very excited to start my professional career and, honestly, just to kind of do things on my own.

“Being part of a team is absolutely incredible, but there are also times when it’s a bit of a pain, you know (laughing). Being surrounded by eight other girls can be hard, so I am excited to go off and down this on my own, too. I really loved my time at college and it has been an adjustment. I get to make decisions by myself. I get to decide when I leave for the golf course. I get to decide how long I want to practice for and those are quite nice things.”

Another “small-town kid” from Scotland with a big future in professional golf.