Bradley Neil storms back into spotlight after sensational 11-birdie blitz on Tartan Pro Tour

Less than a fortnight after feeling “embarrassed” about his golf, Bradley Neil made a spectacular return to winning ways as he overturned a five-shot deficit heading into the final round to claim a seven-shot victory on the Tartan Pro Tour in the Newmachar Classic presented by Bokalis.

The 28-year-old, who was signed by the same management company that looks after Tiger Woods and Justin Rose on the back of a glittering amateur career, shook off a lengthy poor run of form to close with a sensational 11-under-par 61 on the Hawkshill Course at the Aberdeenshire venue.

Bookended by five birdies to start then three to finish, the eye-catching effort saw Neil finish with a 15-under-par total, winning comfortably in the end after the overnight leader, Australian Jack Buchanan, ran up a double bogey and quadruple bogey in the space of three holes on the back nine as he had to settle for a share of second spot with Scottish PGA champion Graeme Robertson and Scottish Par 3 title-holder Calum Fyfe.

Bradley Neil shows off the trophy after winning the Tartan Pro Tour's Newmachar Classic presented by Boskalis by seven shots. Picture: Tartan Pro Tour

“It’s incredible really,” admitted Neil as he savoured his sweet success, worth £4200 in monetary terms – it also secured him a spot in the Farmfoods Scottish Challenge at the same venue later in the year – but way more than that in respect of the instant lift it had given him. “It’s so well-documented how much I’ve struggled and some of the scores I’ve been shooting over the last kind of year or last couple of years. It’s where the game has taken me, but I have always known that I’ve got the talent to shoot scores like that.

“It’s probably what Sam [Locke] thinks and a few of the other guys as well think that they shouldn’t be paying at this level, but, unfortunately, the game doesn’t know who is hitting a ball and you’ve just got to try and work your way and keep figuring things outs. I’m hoping this is a catalyst and, even though some of the scores I’ve had this season might not suggest it, I have been working harder than ever.

“That’s always been the case and sometimes that can be the problem because quite often less can be more. To go and finally win again is great and that’s not something I’ve actually done a lot in my career.”

Maybe not as a professional but, as an amateur, the Blairgowrie player landed the Scottish Boys’ Championship in 2013 before adding the Amateur Championship the following year, beating South African Zander Lombard in the final at Royal Portrush. He turned professional in 2015 and played on the DP World Tour in 2018 before seeing his confidence slowly drained in recent seasons.

“If I want to get back to where I believe I should be, I need to be winning tournaments like these, as Sam has been doing and Rhys [Thompson] did it last year,” added Neil. “I think the best score I’d shot in tournament golf before was seven under and I’m actually still a little bit shocked to be honest. I got away with a couple of tee shots, but it was by far my best ball-striking round ever. My putter got better and better each day.

“I feel like I have learned so much about myself and the game. I’ve been pro for nearly nine years and you hear the cliche thing about a shot at a time, but that’s what I was focusing on in this round. I’d ended the second round with three birdies as well and, after technically, then making it eight in a row after my start today, it was just a case of trying to keep kicking on.

“However, I was never in danger of taking anything for granted as I know how much I have struggled so I tried not to get too ahead of myself. I didn’t look at the leaderboard on my phone until I hit my tee shot on 18. I only had a one-shot lead at that point as I didn’t know Jack was having some problems in one of the groups behind me.”

Asked when he’d last felt so pleased with himself coming off a golf course, he replied: “Jeezo! At Fairmont St Andrews last year, I was leading with eight holes to go before messing it up a bit. I’d started off hot before but stalled. Before that, it was probably when I shot seven under at Carnoustie in the Tartan Pro Tour final in 2020. That could have been nine or ten under if I hadn’t got ahead of myself.

“It’s incredible really. Less than two weeks ago, I shot 81-76 at Cardrona to miss the cut by a considerable margin. I didn’t want to go back for that second round as I felt embarrassed, to be honest. But, even though the game has been putting me down for so long, I didn’t withdraw. And maybe going back out has helped me build a bit of resilience.”

As did a short stint working for Asda earlier this year to fund his golf. “I was doing online collection orders in the store and the shifts were 3am to 11am,” he said. “It was grim, but I did it because I was going out to Dubai to prepare for the season. Something like that is good for providing some perspective. Sometimes when things aren’t going well in this game, you think you’ve got the worst job in the world and you think it would be better doing an office job or something like that, but you are quickly reminded that you are lucky to be doing what I’ve done for the last nine years and a day like today make it all the more worthwhile.”

Through thick and thin, Neil has been supported by his family, girlfriend Rosie and her family, as well as a close-knit group of fellow Blairgowrie members, including Phil McKenna and Stuart Graham, and his current manager, Paul Lawrie, and his Five Star Sports Agency, too.

But he admitted: “Special mention has to go to my coach, (Bothwell Castle PGA professional) Alan McCloskey. I started working with him in August last year and the first competitive round I shot was 83 at Newmachar in the Farmfoods Scottish Challenge. He maybe saw me as a challenge and, along with lots of other people, had probably been asking ‘what is going on with this kid?’ But I have been blown away with his support. In fact, lots of people have always been so supportive of me and I really appreciate that.”