Wright delighted to win his place in the Scottish Open

Gareth Wright has teed up a crack at a Â£3.25 million prize pot this week '“ after thinking he'd be playing for a meagre Â£46,735 in comparison.

The Capital-based Welshman was set to be heading to Montrose for a PGA EuroPro Tour event starting there tomorrow.

But his plans have changed after Wright came through the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open qualifier for the second year running.

In securing one of the five spots up for grabs at Moray Golf Club over the weekend, the PGA pro at West Linton is now bound for Castle Stuart near Inverness.

“I had all my gear packed for Montrose but now I need to get some wi-fi to try and book somewhere to stay close to Castle Stuart,” said a delighted Wright.

He carded a second-round 69 to finish on three-under in the £50,000 two-day shoot-out to finish joint-second behind Ayrshireman Jack Doherty.

“Hopefully this result will turn the tide for me this season,” added Wright as he savoured emulating his feat at North Berwick 12 months  earlier.

“While I’ve been playing nicely, I’ve not managed to put scores together but this could be a corner being turned.

“I love Castle Stuart as it’s a course where you need to be a good driver of the ball and that’s one of my strengths.”

Also looking forward to joining Phil Mickelson and Co this week are Alastair Forsyth, Peter Whiteford and Kris Nicol as they finished alongside Wright.

Doherty claimed the £7500 top prize by a shot after rounds of 68 and 70 as the 34-year-old earned redemption for being pipped for an Open spot by Colin Montgomerie at Gailes Links last Tuesday.

Duddingston’s Ross Munro, who shared the first-round lead after a sparkling 66, finished joint-19th after a 77 while Marc Owenson’s bid also ended in disappointment.

The Gullane assistant was sitting joint-second early on in the final round before ending up alongside Munro following a 75.