Danny Young revelled in the joys of a home crowd at the DP World Tour’s Hero Open.
The Perth golfer pieced together four high-quality rounds at the top table of European golf this week to impressively finish 12th at the Fairmont St Andrews.
Consistently good rounds of 68, 69, 67, 69 resulted in a finishing total of 15-under par and a cheque for €29,137.50.
A former Perth Academy student, Young, who had local caddy Phil McKenna on the bag, finished in style with a birdie on his closing hole of the tournament.
Friends and family had followed his every movement and that made the experience all the more special.
“I said to my caddy walking down the last that it would be nice to finish with a birdie for four rounds in the sixties,” Young explained to the PA.
“I had a good few folk through watching and managed to finish on a bit of a high. It was nice to give them something to cheer about on the last.
“It’s just nice to play in front of your friends and family - you get a few more cheers than you normally would!
“I actually think it relaxes you a bit more and you certainly want to make it worth their while coming to watch.
“They were all buzzing for me. But I think if I’d shot 75 they would still have been buzzing. Most of them are golfers so understand everything that goes with it.
“It’s pretty cool having so many people wanting to come and watch me. That was a nice feeling.”
Five birdies in the opening nine of the closing round had Young creeping - or powering, actually - up the leaderboard.
“I saw a leaderboard after the ninth and I think I was only three back at that point,” he said.
“It was then just trying to keep the foot down. It was head down too and stepping on every tee trying to give myself the best chance of making birdie.
“With the way the course was, you just had to make a barrel load of birdies and then see where you ended up.”
The tournament was won by American Sean Crocker on a finishing total of 22-under par but Young was reflecting on a productive and another confidence-boosting event.
He said: “You play to win trophies but it was a very good week.
“I wouldn’t say anything clicked in particular, I just played really solid. I putted nicely on greens that were unbelievable.
“My putter was a bit quiet in the first half of the year but it’s starting to work a bit. You then obviously start shooting better scores and find yourself competing more.
“Everyone talks about distance in golf but, if the putter is quiet, you can only do so much.
“That’s now two good results in a row which is a nice bit of momentum to carry into the back half of the year.”
