Scottish amateur makes Betfred British Masters cut after Belfry brilliance

Adam, a Royal Burgess member, made it a week to remember as he celebrated his Walker Cup selection on Monday by carding impressive rounds of 71 and 70 at The Belfry to comfortably make the cut on three under along Ferguson.

Playing in one of the final groups in the second round of the $3.5 million event, Adam handed himself the perfect early boost when he rolled in a 15-footer for an eagle at the par-5 third.

The left-hander then chipped into save pars at both the sixth and tenth before showing real bravery to take on a second shot from an awkward spot at the 18th and getting up and down from the back of the green.

“Today felt a lot more work than yesterday as I didn’t hit it very good off the tee and it was a battle for most of the day,” admitted this year’s St Andrews Links Trophy winner. “But, once I was off tee, I was really good today.”

His early eagle was set up by a strategic tee shot. “I was trying to hit it over on the fourth fairway as we were walking down there yesterday and saw someone else do it,” revealed Adam. “It takes the bunker out of play and that’s the only thing that forces you to lay up on that hole.

“It was exactly where we were trying to go to give us the best angle in and I ended up hitting a 4-iron from 215 yards into the wind. Getting an eagle there settled me down as I’d played one poorly then missed a five-footer for birdie on two.”

The second of his chip-ins - at the iconic tenth on the Brabazon Course - was shown on the Sky Golf coverage and came after he’d failed to get his first attempt from the rough on the right on to the green.

‘I could easily have chipped the first one in the water’

“With the first one, I was trying to be aggressive because I knew if I had another go, I could chip it in. It was better than flying it a yard too far as I could easily have chipped the first one in the water,” he admitted.

“I was just trying to land it in the rough and sneak it on the green, but it was pretty awesome to chip in with my second attempt and great in terms of momentum.”

He had a wry smile walking off the green and said of that: “I’d missed a short one there yesterday and, if I’d bogeyed it on both days, it would have been a bit of a kick in the teeth.”

Though he didn’t need to go for the green with his second at the last, Adam wasn’t about to be talked into laying up by his caddie, Scotland team-mate Gregor Tait.

“Gregor was kind of talking me into how it might have made sense to lay up as I had to try and hit a wrap hook, but that’s a shot I am comfortable hitting,” said the Stephen Gallacher Foundation ambassador.

“In hindsight, I hit way too much club with the shot I was trying to hit but, at the same time, I left in a spot where I felt comfortable about getting it up and down and I did. There was a lot of grinding out there today and I am really proud of how I handled myself.”

Making this cut made up for the mild disappointment of narrowly missing out on progressing to the weekend on his major debut in last month’s Open at Royal Portrush.

“Even though I didn’t make the weekend in The Open, I took so much confidence from that week because I didn’t feel I turned up with my A game and was still right there in terms of having a chance to make the cut,” said Adam.

“It was the first experience for me having those kind of nerves coming down the stretch trying to make the cut and that has put me in good stead for this. I feel completely different to how I would have felt without that experience.”

With German Marcel Siem out in front on nine under at the halfway stage, Adam is tied for 22nd alongside three-time DP World Tour winner Ferguson.

“Yeah, I am more than happy to be coming back tomorrow,” said the amateur ace, who was particularly pleased for his dad Steve after he’d made the long drive down from their Fife home and only caught the final few holes “It was nice to make it for him, so he can watch some golf,” said a smiling Adam.

Ferguson, who first came across Adam as a 12-year-old and enjoyed meeting up with him again in the gym earlier in the week, ended a run of four straight missed cuts as he followed an opening 68 with a battling 72.

“Even at the start of the day, it’s in your head a little bit and you don’t want to get back into that horrible mindset of trying to grind the cut,” admitted the Dubai-based Bearsden man.

“It got quite tough out there in a blustery wind and I’d missed a few shorter putts, but I was quite happy with how I held everything together after missing a few cuts in a row.”

Despite both picking up three shots late on, Nexo Championship victor Grant Forrest and Calum Hill, winner of the Joburg Open earlier in the year, agonisingly fell one short of making it to the weekend as the cut fell at level par.