DANIEL Brooks could not hold off the chasing pack to win the biggest golf tournament of his career yesterday – but he had the consolation of winning a spot at The Open Championship.

The Basildon professional produced some of the best golf of his life to lead a star-studded field going into his final round of the Scottish Open yesterday.

The 28-year-old hit sublime rounds of 64 (six under) and 65 (five under) on day’s one and two and then consolidated with a one-under par round on Saturday at Gullane Golf Course to put himself top of the leaderboard.

Brooks struggled to find his rhythm during his final round but dug deep in the final three rounds to secure a valuable birdie that gave him one of the three final spots at The Open later this week at St Andrews.

It caps a remarkable turnaround in fortunes for the former Woodlands School pupil.

Until the Open de France last week, Brooks had been in a wretched run of form, not making a cut in 13 attempts.

But he was tied 20th in Paris and then continued that form into the Scottish Open.

Brooks ended up tied in seventh place after a final round of 73 (three over par). He finished the week on nine under par, three shots behind the winner, American Rickie Fowler.