2025 Alfred Dunhill Links: St Andrews' John Paterson fights hard in horrific conditions at Carnoustie

Alfred Dunhill Links Debutant shoots 73 in wretched wind and rain at fearsome Angus links, as Young and Syme fall back in bid to make the cut; Storm Amy forces changes to Saturday schedule

During our interview and photoshoot last Sunday John revealed that much of his pre-tournament preparation would be done at Carnoustie, because of his vast tournament experience around the Old Course, and because he often caddies at Kingsbarns to help fund his play on the Tartan Pro Tour. It would seem that this preparation paid off, as he played beautifully on a far from beautiful day on the Angus coast.

Starting on the 10th John birdied the 12th and 14th to move to 1-over-par for the championship.

I had a rotten start to the day with the first two available trains to Carnoustie from Cupar being cancelled, and then when I got the next available train, that was cancelled with us onboard, stopping at Dundee, meaning I had to get a bus from Dundee to Carnoustie. I arrived a little rattled, had breakfast and then headed out on to the golf course, only to discover I had left one of my camera's batteries in my bag, which was in the media room in the clubhouse.

John wasn't having any such problems, and despite pushing his drive well to the right, and in the rough on the tough 15th, he produced a stunning approach to the back edge of the green, some 7 feet from the hole. The putt was missed, but Paterson looked in control and at the next he delivered a spectacular moment.

John played a stunning 5 iron to the back edge of the green, taking on a dangerous pin and in increasingly challenging conditions with the wind howling over his right shoulder. This felt like a massive moment, if he holed here he could potentially go and have a real go at posting a score to get himself back in contention for a spot on Sunday. He holed a beautiful putt and calmly moved to the next tee, the dangerous 17th. I met up with John's father, Steven, and mum, Fiona, as well as the family dog, Buff, who was named after the Colorado Buffaloes, the golf team he played for at the University of Colorado.

A long iron down the right side of the hole set him up with an ideal angle to find the narrow approach to the green with his second shot, with the course receptive Paterson flew his shot onto the green and beyond the pin, leaving himself some 20 feet for birdie. The putt narrowly missed, and he went to the 18th, his 9th hole of the day, at level par for the championship. At this point the rain began getting much heavier, and coupled with the wind, the conditions really were horrendous.

In spite of this, John hit a fantastic drive up the right centre of the fairway, which could have opened up the opportunity of making birdie on one of the great holes in golf. However, he marginally overdrew his second shot and the ball ended up inches from the out of bounds fence next to the green, leaving him with an almost impossible chip, and despite his best efforts he failed to save the par.

As they made the turn to begin their second nine holes, the wind strengthened still further, making the first hole a fearsome test. Both John and his fellow professional in the group, Lucas Carrera, hit their drives well to the right, and they were so far right they could have turned round and played to the 16th green. Carrera unfortunately found a bunker, but John found a great lie and managed to muscle an approach through the wind to the opening at the front of the green. He played a beautiful chip and run to a foot, and saved par.

Bogeys on the 2nd and 5th holes saw him fall back to +3, but he bounced back with birdie at Hogan's Alley, the 6th. Sadly consecutive bogeys on the par-four 7th and par-three 8th holes saw John drop to 4-over for the championship, and his hopes of making the cut for Sunday are now looking slim. Throughout this round John showed resilience and patience, but also no little skill, and the tee shot at 16 will be one to remember for quite some time. On Saturday he plays in the same group as Thomas Pieters, and it will be a great opportunity to learn from a former Ryder Cup player, and multiple winner on the DP World Tour.

Elsewhere, Daniel Young shot 75 to fall back to 4-under-par, and Connor Syme is 1-under-par for the round, with one hole to play at Kingsbarns on Saturday morning. Syme is also on 4-under for the championship.

SHANK, written by Matt Hooper