Sleaford's Paul Streeter so close to second European Senior Tour win

With 12 Ryder Cup players in a high-calibre field, including 1991 US Masters champion Ian Woosnam, the Sleaford golfer finished second in brutal conditions at the Scottish Senior Open.

Streeter headed to the Craigielaw links with confidence sky high in his debut season on the prestigious tour.

He followed a maiden win at the Travis Perkins Masters at Woburn last month, with a 19th-place finish at the Euro Senior Classic in Bulgaria, his sixth top-20 finish of the season.

The 51-year-old opened with a handy level-par 71 in gusty conditions for a share of 12th after the first round.

But Streeter burst into life as the wind dropped on Saturday, climbing the leaderboard with a bogey-free second round of 66 evenly sprinkled with five birdies.

He went into the final round tied for third with Stephen Dodd, and four strokes behind leader Gary Orr,

The strong winds returned on Sunday, and with rain adding to the test, only Orr and Streeter would finish under par for the tournament.

Streeter gradually reeled in the leader, and had a 10-foot putt for eagle on the par-five 18th to take the lead.

But his effort shaved the hole and he was forced to settle for a birdie for a two-over par round of 73, and three-under total.

The Scotsman then finished in style with a birdie at the last to win by one shot.

The Lincolnshire ace, already guaranteed a coveted place on next year’s Senior Tour, moved up to 13th on the Overall Order of Merit which is headed by Paul Broadhurst and Miguel Angel Jiminez.

Next up is the European Senior Masters from October 5 to 7.