All three golfers finished regulation at 8-under par, only one stroke clear of six others in a wild finish on the Old Course. Cope’s bogey free final round included birdies on the fourth, fifth, sixth, 10th and 18th holes while Burns, who won the Scottish Amateur championship two years ago on his home course at Crail, birdied the final hole in regulation to get into the playoff, but was the first to be eliminated.
Cope and Williams played on, with the 22-year old Englishman prevailing on the fourth playoff hole, the 18th, which he birdied all five times in competition by driving the green and two-putting.
Jack Cope is the 2021 St Andrews Links Trophy Champion!
— St Andrews Links (@TheHomeofGolf) June 6, 2021
After a marathon 4 hole play off he birdied the 18th twice after driving the green both times.
Full highlights will be on our YouTube channel this week
Congratulations Jack! #LinksTrophy pic.twitter.com/Flk0bPKfnV
“I’ve played in four play-offs in my life and lost every single one,” said Cope. “I was thinking my lucks got to change sometime. I feel I know how to win and having done that, and that (the English Amateur) being a big event, I wasn’t overawed by the situation.
“The play-off, I maybe played my best golf tee-to-green all week on those four holes. At the 18th, my strategy was to go for it every single time. I really committed to the shot and the last two were two of the best shots I hit all week.
“I particularly like the Old Course. You just walk around and think whose won here and played here. Playing four holes of play-off on the first and 18th, that’s two special golf holes to play.”
