Joaquín Niemann struggled in the final round of the Scottish Open and fell into the top 10. The Chilean golfer suffered an irregular tournament closure and finished in 16th place, after signing a +1 card that left his accumulated score at -1. He finished five strokes behind the champion, American Xander Schauffele, who reached the final day at the top, as the main contender, and he did not disappoint.

The Chilean was on a mission to stay in the top ten, as at the end of the third day of competition he was tenth with -2, six shots behind Schauffele, who led and ended up retaining the title. That’s why thinking about the title was difficult for the Chilean, despite the fact that he had possibilities anyway. But the talagantino did not succeed. He had an opaque, very irregular day. He couldn’t reach his goal for the day and he couldn’t improve his numbers either.

Joaco, who toured with Dane Rasmus Hojgaard, struggled from the start. He began the journey on the first hole, where he was forced to use his first shot over par of the day, which, unfortunately for him, he had to repeat at flag three.

The panorama was uphill for the national early on, so a quick recovery was going to be key. Above all, do not lose focus. And Niemann understood that. On the fourth hole he scored his first birdie of the day, while on the fifth he scored his second in a row. It looked like the start of a comeback. However, he couldn’t deliver a blow to the pitch again, although he didn’t make a mistake either. This allowed him to finish the first pass tied.

There were still nine holes left for the Chilean to try to move up the rankings. However, another bogey at flag 14 meant another slap in the face for his aspirations. Right now his card was +1 and, despite the fact that the scenario was not the worst, recovering, with four holes to play, was already very difficult. His head was cloudy and his putting work was far from the best.

A new birdie reactivated Niemann’s illusion. This under-par shot allowed him to put his card back in a tie. However, the closure reflected the irregularity of his game on the final day, as he regretted another bogey, on the 18th hole.

It was a bitter farewell for Joaco, who couldn’t repeat what he did in the opening laps. His presentation in the competition was more or less. His first day in the tournament ended with -1 and he immediately moved to the forward positions, which got even better on Friday when he made the cut with a -2 total card. Saturday, meanwhile, he left his score equal and this allowed him to stay in the top ten, where he could not maintain after his performance this Sunday.

Guillermo Pereira, who was the other Chilean who said he was in the contest, said goodbye to the contest on Friday, the day he failed to qualify. Mito had started his participation with even better numbers than Niemann. In his debut, he recorded -4 and entered the top ten. However, a second round for oblivion, in which he concluded with +11 produced from seven bogies and two double bogeys, ended up removing him from the contest.

Now Mito and Joaco are preparing for what will be the 150th edition of The Open, the fourth major of the season and which will be held from July 14-17. . Both will have the task of improving their level, because in this type of tournament mistakes are expensive. In any case, the Chileans have already shown that they are up to it.