The 2023 season has certainly got underway in rare fashion. The first three events of the year have seen first time winners. Kevin Brannan lifting his first Major, Alan Duncan winning his first Tour event and the Kinghorn Classic delivering Stevie Orr his first win.

The players arrived at the quirky links, with all eyes on David McColgan who was hoping it was third time lucky after failing to defend the EuroDov Cup and the St Andrews Open in 2023.

The course was presented in great condition, with some of the fastest greens the field will have experienced this year, and they weren’t the only things that were fast. Stevie Orr took no time in racing out in front. After 3 pars to open 2 eagles and 2 birdies on the front nine firmly established his lead.

And Stevie would hold on to that lead to win the Kinghorn Classic, and his first ever Tour event. We had the chance to sit down with him and hear about it all straight from the Champions mouth.

Stevie, welcome to your first winners’ interview, how does it feel to get your hands on the Kinghorn Classic?

“Hi guys, it’s a really good feeling if I am honest, but surreal at the same time.

I didn’t expect the win when teeing off today, but a good start is always a confidence booster, which is especially nice on a tough track like Kinghorn. To get that first win is a big step in the right direction for me.”

Your 7-under par 60 is a tournament record, how did your game feel out there?

“I felt really good throughout that round today. I was driving it well and gained momentum and confidence which each shot I played. It just clicked today. Wish I could play like that every tournament I play in.”

I am sure the rest of the field will be hoping you don’t play like that every week, or this competition might be over very quickly.

This was your first appearance at the Kinghorn Classic, how did you find the course?

“Yeah, it’s my first time playing on Tour here, but not my first rodeo at Kinghorn.

I thought the course was in good condition and the greens were really quick, despite the rain.

Kinghorn has a reputation for being a difficult course, especially when you’re not playing great. I just tried to forget my previous errors from rounds there in the past and got on with it. If only golf is like that all the time.”

EuroDov Reporter was left with egg on their face after placing Orr as a rank outsider at 12/1 – what do you think the win means for the rest of the field’s perception of you?

“Hopefully it shows the field that nobody should be underestimated. If you put together one good round of golf, you’ll be up there challenging towards the top of the leaderboard.”

As we said in the introduction your front nine featured 4 pars, 2 birdies and 2 eagles, with only one blemish on the card. At the half way point you had a 3 stroke lead, how does a front nine like that impact your back nine?

“It was good knowing that I was in with a shot after the front 9. I just had to continue that momentum and play solid golf for the remainder of the round. However, I knew one bad bounce or shot could ruin that. Gladly, that didn’t materialise.”

Saying that your back nine was fairly sedentary in comparison. 5 pars, 3 birdies and a bogey were enough to deliver you the win. You’ve got to be happy looking back on the consistency, right?

“In all honesty, I was still thinking in my head that that dreaded score of 10 was going to bite me at some point. However, Alan helped me through the last 9 holes and kept me in check. Having no score more than 6 though was a brilliant feeling. Golf is all about consistency and I managed that today.”

You famously led in each round of the EuroDov Cup, earlier in the year, before carding a devastating run of scores that torpedoed your chances. How did you mentally hold that off around Kinghorn?

“My performance in the EuroDov still stings slightly when I think back on it. However, I just had it on my head that if I played bogey golf, I could be up there towards the end. My tee shots helped massively today, but Kinghorn is always about your second shot, and I played most of them well too.”

Your win today adds 1200 points to your 16.66 points collected at St Andrews and you now sit in 5th place overall. How does your win at the Kinghorn Classic set you up for the rest of the year?

“Well hopefully I can build on today and compete a bit more in other competitions down the line. The first win is in the bag though and it feels pretty damn good if I say so myself. We’ll see if there’s more to follow.”

Well, there we have it folks, the Kinghorn Classic is in the bag and after 2 regular season events in the OoM we have had 2 first time winners and 2 tournament records. We’re a third of the way through the regular season now and things are hoting up on the Road to Craigielaw.

But for now, the limelight rests on Stevie Orr, tournament record holder for the Kinghorn Classic and the newest member of the event winners on the EuroDov Tour.

The next Order of Merit event is the MCM @ Aberdour on Sunday 21st May, as ever the From the Locker Room team will be there to fill you in with all the news, analysis and insight from the players.