Andrew Dodt saved his best till last at the
Scottish Open, a 5-under 67 Sunday rocketing the Queenslander more than 30
places up the leaderboard to claim top Australian honours.

The two time European Tour winner scorched
the back nine of the Castle Stuart layout in 4-under 32, his 5-under total
bettered by only three players on the day.

Starting the day near the tail of the field
after struggling to gain momentum over the first three rounds, Dodt gave an
indication of what was to come with two birdies in his first five holes.

A bogey at the seventh slowed his momentum
but he steadied the ship with four straight pars before making a run for the
clubhouse.

Birdies at 12, 15, 17 and 18 saw him soar
up the standings to an eventual T39 result.

Dodt was one of two Australians to make the
cut, first round leader Scott Hend the other.

Hend’s opening 3-under was one of only two
sub-70 scores on day one with strong winds lashing the Castle Stuart layout.

However, as officials set the course up
easier each of the following three days Hend struggled to maintain his momentum
and slid down the standings over the final three days.

Still in the top-25 at the start of Sunday,
Hend tumbled to T45 with a closing round of 2-over 74, just one birdie in his
final 18 holes a disappointing way to finish.

However, having earned a start at the
upcoming Open Championship this week the four days of links golf will have been
an important preparation for the examination he will face at Royal Troon.

Dodt and Hend were among six Australians to
play the Scottish Open but Brett Rumford, Jason Scrivener, Richard Green and
Nathan Holman all missed the weekend’s action.