Warren hails Scots Open importance

Marc Warren claims the Scottish Open is a “fifth major” for himself and his fellow compatriots ahead of this week’s tournament.

The 34-year-old Scot, who is ranked number 65 in the world, is looking forward to the European Tour event at Gullane from Thursday which is usually classed as a warm-up for the Open Championship.

However Warren, who has finished in third at Castle Stuart in Inverness in 2012 and Royal Aberdeen last summer, insists that he will place as much importance on this tournament as he will on the year’s third major event, taking place at St Andrews next week.

The East Kilbride golfer told BBC Sport: “For the Scottish guys it’s definitely the fifth major.

“Outside of the majors it doesn’t get any bigger than this. The last few years the Scottish Open’s been good to me so fingers crossed that continues.”

On the course, Warren, who has three European Tour title wins under his belt, added: “We’ve got a great golf course and a great test so I’m really looking forward to getting started.

“You come back to the event and you see the staging’s quite similar to what it was, although it’s different venues.

“There’s something quite familiar about it. No matter what course was played on the year before, if you’ve had a good finish you take confidence from that.”

Tagged European Tour, Gullane, Marc Warren, Scottish Open