Gareth Wright and Neil Fenwick stay upbeat

LOTHIANS stars Neil Fenwick and Gareth Wright refused to be downbeat after losing out to amateur ace David Law in the Northern Open title hunt.
The 20-year-old, who was controversially left out of next weekend's Walker Cup team, produced a brilliant last-day performance to win the Aberdeen Asset Management-sponsored event at Meldrum House.

He stormed into the lead with a third-round 62 t

hen closed with a 68 for an aggregate of 14-under-par to win by two strokes from Hayston pro Stephen Gray.

Fenwick closed with a pair of 68s to finish third on 270, one ahead of former Mortonhall man David Patrick.

"I'm taking a lot of positives from the way I've played this week," said Fenwick, who is playing full-time this season after finishing his PGA training at Dunbar.

Wright, who shared the lead at the halfway stage, had to settle for fifth spot after closing rounds of 69 and 70.

But, coming on the back of a top-40 finish in the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, the West Linton pro was also upbeat.

"I've hit the ball well again and it was only probably down to a bit of tiredness that I let some shots slip out there," said Wright.

Along with both Fenwick and Patrick, he's heading for West Lothian next week for the Scottish Young Professionals' Championship.

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Golf: Dunbar duo put pressure on Wright

WEST LINTON'S Gareth Wright had a Dunbar duo breathing down his neck heading into today's final 36 holes of the £25,000 Aberdeen Asset Management Northern Open at Meldrum House.Wright, the joint first-day leader after a 65, held on to his place at the top of the leaderboard after a second-round 68.

But, as West Lothian's Alan Reid, the other pacesetter at the end of the opening day, slipped to a 71, he was joined at the

head of affairs by amateur Graham Robertson, who signed for a 67 to join his playing partner on seven-under.

Six players were just a shot back, including Dunbar's Danny Kay and Neil Fenwick.

Amateur ace Kay signed for a five-under 65 - the best score of the day along with Hayston's Stephen Gray.

And Fenwick also stayed in contention thanks to a second successive 67.

Kay bagged five birdies in a flawless second round, getting up and down to save par at the 16th after his only poor shot of the day found the water.

Former Mortonhall man David Patrick matched Fenwick's feat of two 67s to also be stalking the leaders.

Mark Kerr, one of the pace after his opening 66, slipped back after a 72.

But he was still in the title hunt while Scott Dixon, Lee Harper, Ally MacKenzie, James McGhee and Scott Grieve were also amongst a posse of Lothians players to make the cut.

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Wright on form after a fine start at foggy Gleneagles

WEST LINTON'S Gareth Wright led the Lothians challenge as almost half the field returned to Gleneagles early this morning to complete their opening rounds in the Johnnie Walker Championship.The Tartan Tour player shot a two-under-par 70 over the PGA Centenary Course to sit in a tie for 21st after play was delayed for nearly two-and-a-half hours due to early-morning fog in Perthshire. Wright, whose dad Ian is the pro at West Linton, secu red his place in the European Tour event through the PGA Scottish Region last year.

But the Welshman is no stranger to playing at this level and he bagged five birdies in producing a splendid opening effort in the £1.4?million event.

"I'm very pleased overall - it's a good start," said Wright, who reckoned a group that included two of his Tartan Tour colleagues - David Patrick and Scott Henderson - had worked in his favour.

"While I won't deny I was feeling nervous on the first tee, I think that was an advantage and if I'm still around for the weekend I might get drawn with a big name then," he added.

Former Mortonhall man Patrick was also going along nicely at one time, having covered his opening 11 holes in three-under. But back-to-back double bogeys led to him having to settle for a 74.

Stephen Gallacher, who just got finished before play was stopped around 8:30pm, signed for the same score after he ran up a quadruple-bogey 8 at the eighth.

The Saltman brothers, Elliot and Lloyd Saltman, both had 73s earlier in the day, while Paul McKechnie and David Drysdale were level-par and three-over respectively as they resumed this morning.

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