Scottish Open: Rafa Cabrera-Bello wins play-off

Leaderboard

-13 Rafa Cabrera Bello, Callum Shinkwin 

-10 Matthieu Pavon

-8 Padraig Harrington, Andew Dodt, Matt Kuchar, Anthony Wall, Ryan Fox

Scroll down for collated scores

Day four report

Spain's Rafael Cabrera Bello claimed an overdue first victory since 2012 by beating England's Callum Shinkwin in a play-off after a dramatic finish to the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open.

Shinkwin had looked set for his maiden European Tour title and the first prize of £898,000, only to fluff his chip to the 18th in regulation and then leave a putt to win the £5.4million event short from just four feet.

The pair returned to the 18th for sudden death and Cabrera Bello, whose closing 64 had set a new course record at Dundonald Links, produced a stunning approach to the par five from 275 yards to set up a two-putt birdie.

Shinkwin's approach had finished in an almost identical place as it had on the 72nd hole and after pitching over a bunker to seven feet, the 24-year-old again hit a tentative putt which came up short.

"Obviously I'm extremely happy," said Cabrera Bello, who qualified for the 2016 Ryder Cup without winning an event, but claimed two and a half points from his three matches at Hazeltine.

"I've won before and I have been up there so many, many times and things have not really worked out for myself. I was starting to feel a little pressure every time I was up there contending.

"Today I truly believed that it could be my day. I just tried to stay one shot at a time, just waiting for things to come to me and obviously I'm very, very pleased with the entire week. Each day has had its goal and today was just like the cherry on top of the cake.

"Winning again, it's an unbelievable feeling. I think I was overdue. I'm very happy to have gotten that third win, finally.

"I feel that I played some of the best golf of my life today."

Cabrera Bello had started the day four shots off the lead and, despite going to the turn in 32, was unable to gain much ground as Shinkwin followed six straight pars with a hat-trick of birdies from the seventh.

Further birdies on the 13th and 15th kept Shinkwin out in front, but Cabrera Bello kept up the pressure by picking up shots on the 12th, 14th and 17th before enjoying a slice of luck on the last as his approach hit the right-hand side of the burn which guards the green and bounced over to the other side.

From there the 33-year-old, who had finished runner-up five times since his last win, chipped to three feet for a closing birdie which proved enough for a play-off after Shinkwin dropped his only shot of the day on the last.

The former English Amateur champion, whose caddie Andy Sutton worked for Ben Curtis when the American was a shock winner of the 2003 Open, at least had the consolation of a place at Royal Birkdale and a cheque for £598,000.

"It's been a very good week," Shinkwin, who missed six cuts in a row earlier this season and was then disqualified from his next two events, said after a closing 68. "I'll be more than happy to finish second but the win was on my mind and it didn't happen.

"Of course I was nervous but to be fair it was nothing like what everyone probably thinks. I hit a great second shot in (on the 72nd hole) and finished in a divot on a downslope of the bunker. I had no shot, really.

"But it's all a learning curve and obviously if you win, you have to have luck on your side. It wasn't there for me.

"It’s fantastic to be playing in The Open and I’m looking forward to playing at Royal Birkdale. The Open is the number one championship for us and to have qualified is great. I played at Royal Troon last year, didn’t make the cut, but I thought I performed well there."

France's Matthieu Pavon also secured a major debut at Birkdale with a closing 66 to finish third on 10 under, with Australia's Andrew Dodt claiming the last place ahead of England's Anthony Wall by virtue of his higher world ranking.

Dodt, who had been scheduled to fly to New York on Monday for a holiday with his wife, finished on eight under par alongside Wall, Padraig Harrington, Matt Kuchar and Ryan Fox.

"I'm over the moon," Dodt said after a closing 73. "It's been a big goal of mine to play my first major and it's great news.

"I found myself a little bit mentally fatigued on the back nine. I felt like I used a lot of energy early on in the round and really had to take things a bit slower and take one step at a time a bit because I knew the Open spot was right in line. I had to dig as deep as I could down the stretch."

Pavon was understandably delighted, saying: "It’s an amazing day and at the start of the weekend, I wasn’t expecting to qualify for The Open. I played very solidly for two days however and everything went well. I’m so happy. 

"It’s going to be my first time playing in a major championship and my first time at Royal Birkdale too. I will enjoy this moment but I need to get down there as fast as I can!"

Ian Poulter, who began the day in a tie for the lead with Shinkwin and Dodt in pursuit of his first win since 2012, could only manage a closing 74 to finish in a tie for ninth.

Collated fourth-round scores

(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):

275 Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 70 72 69 64(won at first extra play-off hole), Callum Shinkwin 67 68 72 68

278 Matthieu Pavon (Fra) 69 74 69 66

280 Anthony Wall 71 71 69 69, Ryan Fox (Nzl) 72 69 69 70, Andrew Dodt (Aus) 67 69 71 73, Matt Kuchar (USA) 68 70 73 69, Padraig Harrington 67 68 79 66

281 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 71 72 70 68, Robert Rock 73 69 73 66, Andrew Sullivan 70 72 67 72, Ian Poulter 67 69 71 74, Rickie Fowler (USA) 67 70 74 70, Lee Slattery 75 68 70 68

282 Thomas Bjorn (Den) 72 71 72 67, Branden Grace (Rsa) 75 67 72 68, Bernd Ritthammer (Ger) 72 69 70 71, Johan Carlsson (Swe) 73 69 68 72

283 Richard Bland 69 74 68 72, Andrew Johnston 73 68 70 72, Graeme McDowell 75 68 68 72, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 70 67 78 68, Adrian Otaegui (Spa) 73 66 73 71, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 73 69 71 70, Paul Peterson (USA) 67 76 75 65

284 Alexander Levy (Fra) 72 66 76 70, Romain Wattel (Fra) 72 69 77 66, Paul Dunne 68 73 69 74, Jorge Campillo (Spa) 72 69 73 70, Alexander Knappe (Ger) 70 65 76 73, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 72 69 75 68

285 Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 69 73 74 69, Gregory Havret (Fra) 71 66 76 72, Anirban Lahiri (Ind) 76 67 76 66

286 Jason Scrivener (Aus) 72 68 75 71, Richie Ramsay 68 74 72 72, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 68 74 73 71, Ross Fisher 69 74 74 69, Adam Scott (Aus) 69 71 78 68, Kristoffer Broberg (Swe) 69 70 76 71, Alexander Bjork (Swe) 73 70 73 70, Sam Brazel (Aus) 72 69 74 71

287 David Horsey 71 68 77 71, Ashley Chesters 71 70 77 69

288 Robert Karlsson (Swe) 69 74 73 72, Maximilian Kieffer (Ger) 71 72 72 73, Stephen Gallacher 68 72 79 69, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 71 72 72 73, Benjamin Hebert (Fra) 68 72 74 74

289 Haotong Li (Chn) 70 71 74 74

290 Byeong-Hun An (Kor) 72 71 74 73, Paul Waring 73 70 78 69, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 73 69 75 73, Soomin Lee (Kor) 71 72 72 75

291 Ricardo Gouveia (Por) 70 72 78 71, Duncan Stewart 71 70 78 72, Gary Stal (Fra) 74 69 75 73

292 Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 65 74 77 76, Jordan Smith 72 71 75 74, Luke Donald 70 72 81 69

293 Lucas Bjerregaard (Den) 69 71 75 78, Sebastien Gros (Fra) 72 71 74 76, Renato Paratore (Ita) 69 73 81 70

296 Peter Hanson (Swe) 69 74 81 72, David Howell 70 73 75 78

Day three report

Three months after thinking he had lost his PGA Tour card, Ian Poulter is on course for a first victory since 2012 after surviving a "brutal" day in the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open.

Poulter defied strong wind and heavy rain at Dundonald Links to card a third round of 71 and finish nine under par alongside playing partner Callum Shinkwin and Australia's Andrew Dodt.

Fellow Englishman Andy Sullivan is two shots off the lead after surging through the field with a 67, the lowest score of the day, with Ireland's Paul Dunne, Sweden's Johan Carlsson and New Zealand's Ryan Fox a shot further back.

Halfway joint leader Padraig Harrington fell out of contention after struggling to a 79 in conditions which reminded Poulter of the final round of the 2008 Open at Royal Birkdale, where the pair finished first and second.

"It was brutal at times," said Poulter, who came through final qualifying at Woburn 11 days ago to book his place in next week's Open at Birkdale.

"Days like today don't come around very often and I can think back to Birkdale on that Sunday, which was some of the toughest conditions I've ever played in. This would slide along right with it."

After playing just 13 tournaments last year due to a foot injury, Poulter had 10 events this season to earn enough FedEx Cup points or money to remain fully exempt.

He came up short in both categories after missing the cut in the Valero Texas Open in April, but American Brian Gay, who was also playing on a medical exemption after back problems, then alerted officials to a discrepancy in the points structure used for players competing in that category.

"There's no question I feel better because of that," added Poulter, who made the most of his reprieve by finishing second in his next event, the Players Championship at Sawgrass. "There's a lot of pressure come off my shoulders, I can just go out and play golf.

"It's just nice to be in a good position. It's a big stage right now, the third of a run of great events on the European Tour. There's a lot at stake.

"I feel energised and excited about the golf I've been playing. There's life in the old dog yet and I'm relishing the opportunity to go out and get stuck in.

"My whole family are up here which is really nice. The last trophy I handed to Luke (his eldest son) was on his birthday. I told him before I went out to play I'd hand him a trophy and I did.

"It would be awesome to win again. I've got 18 good holes to play and try to do that and I'm looking forward to the opportunity."

Shinkwin has had more disqualifications than top-25 finishes on the European Tour this season, but impressed Poulter with his third round of 72, the highlight of which was a tap-in eagle on the 14th.

"It's the first time I've played with Ian and we dragged each other along, which was good fun," said Shinkwin, who was disqualified for signing for an incorrect score in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth and for playing with a club he had damaged in anger during the Nordea Masters.

"I don't think I've played in wind and rain like that before. It was coming down at a really bad angle, especially the mid part of the round, but I managed to grind it out and get through level par."

Shinkwin and Dodt are in pole position to claim two of the three Open places up for grabs for non-exempt players who finish in the top 10, but that would require a major change of plans for Dodt.

The 31-year-old and his wife Ashleigh have a five-day holiday booked in New York, starting on Monday, but Dodt said: "My wife only flew in from Sydney this morning but I'll be quite happy to cancel the holiday for a spot in the Open, my first major."

Sullivan's 67 saw him climb 27 places up the leaderboard and featured six birdies in the first 14 holes, followed by a bogey, double bogey, eagle finish.

"I was absolutely seething standing on that 18th tee, but fortunately we had a bit of a wait because Ross Fisher lost a ball and that allowed me to get my head back on," said Sullivan, who holed out from a greenside bunker for his eagle.

"I'm just glad that after putting all the hard work in through the weather I got my reward in the end there."

Collated third-round scores

(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):

207 Ian Poulter 67 69 71, Callum Shinkwin 67 68 72, Andrew Dodt (Aus) 67 69 71

209 Andrew Sullivan 70 72 67

210 Paul Dunne 68 73 69, Ryan Fox (Nzl) 72 69 69, Johan Carlsson (Swe) 73 69 68

211 Andrew Johnston 73 68 70, Richard Bland 69 74 68, Graeme McDowell 75 68 68, Matt Kuchar (USA) 68 70 73, Anthony Wall 71 71 69, Alexander Knappe (Ger) 70 65 76, Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spa) 70 72 69, Bernd Ritthammer (Ger) 72 69 70, Rickie Fowler (USA) 67 70 74

212 Matthieu Pavon (Fra) 69 74 69, Adrian Otaegui (Spa) 73 66 73

213 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 71 72 70, Gregory Havret (Fra) 71 66 76, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 73 69 71, Lee Slattery 75 68 70

214 Alexander Levy (Fra) 72 66 76, Richie Ramsay 68 74 72, Jorge Campillo (Spa) 72 69 73, Branden Grace (Rsa) 75 67 72, Benjamin Hebert (Fra) 68 72 74, Padraig Harrington 67 68 79

215 Lucas Bjerregaard (Den) 69 71 75, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 68 74 73, Maximilian Kieffer (Ger) 71 72 72, Kristoffer Broberg (Swe) 69 70 76, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 70 67 78, Jason Scrivener (Aus) 72 68 75, Haotong Li (Chn) 70 71 74, Robert Rock 73 69 73, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 72 71 72, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 71 72 72, Sam Brazel (Aus) 72 69 74, Soomin Lee (Kor) 71 72 72

216 Robert Karlsson (Swe) 69 74 73, Thomas Aiken Rsa) 69 73 74, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 65 74 77, Alexander Bjork (Swe) 73 70 73, David Horsey 71 68 77, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 72 69 75

217 Ross Fisher 69 74 74, Sebastien Gros (Fra) 72 71 74, Byeong-Hun An (Kor) 72 71 74, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 73 69 75

218 Adam Scott (Aus) 69 71 78, Romain Wattel (Fra) 72 69 77, David Howell 70 73 75, Ashley Chesters 71 70 77, Jordan Smith 72 71 75, Gary Stal (Fra) 74 69 75, Paul Peterson (USA) 67 76 75

219 Duncan Stewart 71 70 78, Stephen Gallacher 68 72 79, Anirban Lahiri (Ind) 76 67 76

220 Ricardo Gouveia (Por) 70 72 78

221 Paul Waring 73 70 78

223 Luke Donald 70 72 81, Renato Paratore (Ita) 69 73 81

224 Peter Hanson (Swe) 69 74 81

Day two report

A relaxed Padraig Harrington does not believe a fourth major title would alter his golfing legacy, but concedes a third Open victory next week might lead to a hasty change of heart.

The prospects of that happening shortened considerably after the 45-year-old claimed a share of the halfway lead in the £5.4million Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open.

Harrington swapped the drama of his opening 67 for a "boring" and bogey-free 68 to finish nine under par, a total matched by England's Callum Shinkwin and Germany's Alexander Knappe.

Ian Poulter, who finished second to Harrington in the 2008 Open Championship, and Australia's Andrew Dodt were a shot off the lead following matching rounds of 69, with 2015 champion Rickie Fowler, 2007 winner Gregory Havret and Belgium's Nicolas Colsaerts a further stroke adrift.

Harrington defeated Sergio Garcia in a play-off to win the Open at Carnoustie in 2007 and defended the title at Royal Birkdale the following year, before winning the US PGA a month later.

FRUSTRATIONS FOR RORY McILROY AFTER ANOTHER MISSED CUT

The Open returns to Birkdale next week and Harrington is relaxed about the prospect of getting his hands on the Claret Jug for the third time.

"Anything that comes my way from here would be a bonus," said Harrington, who has played just nine events in 2017 and underwent surgery on a trapped nerve in his neck in March.

"I will win tournaments, that's for sure, but I'm not turning up trying to change my legacy. I've kind of come to the conclusion that I've pretty much done what I've done in the game of golf.

"I enjoy being out here. Why bother beating myself up over it? If I win another major, not a huge deal. If you told me I was going to win another six majors, well, okay, that might be a difference.

"But it's not going to change me and there's no point in me fighting it at this stage. I'm enjoying what I'm doing and kind of letting it happen.

"I'd love to win another major and if I did win next week I'd sit here on Sunday and tell you all the reasons why it does make a difference to my career! But at the moment, I'm going to tell you I found myself in a better place by deflecting a little bit in that sense."

Victory in the 2008 US PGA proved to be Harrington's last on a major worldwide tour for seven years and his win at the 2015 Honda Classic came as the Dubliner was about to drop out of the world's top 300.

He had drifted back to 153rd in the rankings before winning the Portugal Masters in October 2016, but believes any future wins will not come as such a surprise.

"I can't do it on demand," added Harrington, whose only practice round came in the pre-tournament pro-am after he missed his flight on Monday due to traffic.

"I can't tell you it's going to happen next week, but it will happen.

"But I don't think they will be as much out of the blue going forward. I will have tournaments where I shoot good rounds like this and get into the lead. It's part of the ups and downs and I'll just patiently wait for the ups."

Shinkwin has also had to be patient this season after a run of six missed cuts in succession was followed by two disqualifications.

The first came in the BMW PGA Championship after he signed for an incorrect score and the second he called on himself in the Nordea Masters after noticing he had played with a club damaged in anger the previous day.

"It was very much a sign of the frustration that was building," admitted Shinkwin, who beat Matt Fitzpatrick to win the English Amateur title in 2013 and played alongside the three-time European Tour winner in the Walker Cup later that year.

"It was a lob wedge after an easy chip shot that got slammed into the bag. Fortunately I was working hard with my coach Mike Walker in France and managed to find an extra piece to the puzzle to try and fix up my season and it's worked so far."

Day one report

Rory McIlroy faces the prospect of heading into next week's Open Championship on the back of a third missed cut in four events after getting off to a poor start in the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open.

McIlroy was hoping that memories of his last appearance in the event would kickstart his injury-hit season, the world number four finishing 14th at Royal Aberdeen in 2014 before going on to win the Open, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and US PGA in his next three starts.

But despite enjoying the best of the conditions, the 28-year-old could only card a two-over-par 74 at Dundonald Links to end the day nine shots behind Finland's Mikko Ilonen.

McIlroy followed a missed cut in the US Open with a tie for 17th in the Travelers Championship, but then made an early exit from the Irish Open at Portstewart, where he was the defending champion.

The four-time major winner has not missed successive cuts since May 2015, but recent work on his wedge game failed to reap dividends as he followed bogeys on the 11th and 12th - his second and third holes of the day - by dumping his approach to the 13th into the burn which guards the front of the green.

The resulting double bogey was at least followed by a first birdie of the day on the par-five 14th, but another bogey on the 18th - where he pitched into a greenside bunker - took McIlroy to the turn in 40.

Birdies on the third, fifth and seventh repaired most of the damage, only for a bogey on the ninth to leave McIlroy at the wrong end of the leaderboard in the £5.4million event.

Ilonen has missed the cut in his last four events, but a new set of irons helped the five-time European Tour winner card seven birdies in a bogey-free 65 to lead by two shots from Rickie Fowler, Ian Poulter, Padraig Harrington, Paul Peterson, Callum Shinkwin and Andrew Dodt.

"I wasn't imagining shooting 65," Ilonen said. "I thought anything in the 60s would be a great round. Given my recent form, I think red numbers (under par) really, but seven under is a good start."

Playing alongside McIlroy, 2015 champion Fowler carded five birdies in a bogey-free 67 as he maintained the form which has produced a win and five other top-10s this season.

"It's a lot of fun to be back here at the Scottish Open," Fowler said. "It was unfortunate I had to miss it last year with the schedule and the Olympics being part of the summer, but I'm excited to be back.

"It's been a good year so far, very consistent, being in contention the first two majors. It was not what I wanted on the Sundays there, especially at Augusta, but it was better at the (US) Open.

"I just didn't get anything to go and Brooks (Koepka) played a hell of a round there to win the tournament."

Poulter described his game as a "work in progress" despite five birdies and a tap-in eagle in his 67, the 41-year-old's recent upturn in form including qualifying for the Open last week.

"I will have zero expectations again next week because when you do, you often get a nice surprise," said Poulter, who was second to Harrington the last time Birkdale hosted the Open in 2008.

Harrington's 67 was completed as the forecast rain belatedly arrived and included what he described as a "minor miracle" on the 16th and a chip-in for birdie on the next.

"We were very lucky to find the ball on the 16th and my provisional was in a bunker," the three-time major winner said. "I was staring at a seven but managed to take a penalty drop, get it up near the green and hole the par putt from around 90 feet."

Richie Ramsay and Stephen Gallacher led the home challenge on four under, with Gallacher trying to emulate Ramsay and fellow Scot David Drysdale's achievement in Ireland last week by claiming one of the three places available at Royal Birkdale via the Open qualifying series.

"The goal for the last three weeks has been to make it to Birkdale and this is my last chance," Gallacher said. "It's a great start and something to build on for the rest of the week."

Open champion Henrik Stenson started his round with a triple-bogey seven after needing three attempts to hack out of heavy rough, but recovered to card a level-par 72.