Glenmavis ace Tam Whitfield turned up trumps in the £4000 West Lothian Masters having proved his supremacy by battling though a 163-strong pack to capture the rich £1000 Masters prize and the signature Green Jacket, writes Stewart Meikle.
Headlined by lead advertisers Gordon Bow Plant Hire and Engineering Ltd, the continuation of the final day of play at Stoneyburn Community Bowling Club was dominated by the consistency of quality drawing skills served up by the unseeded dark horse.
Whitfield’s 21-8 third round defeat of Armadale star Bob Mackay was an early indicator of good form and his follow on wins over Greg Baldry (21-18) of East Calder and eighth seed Thomas Mann (21-19) of Newbridge were both eye-catching.
The defeat of 16th seed Frazer Muirhead (21-15) of Uphall Station in the quarter-finals was another feather in the cap.
The semi-finals pitched Whitfield against former Scottish and British Isles Pairs champion Ian Robertson of Newbridge and his excited support cheered a maximum count of four on the 28th end that clinched a 21-15 victory.
Meanwhile the other semi-final had produced a surprisingly comfortable 21-5 win for Paul Sweeney of Newbridge over his fellow Hamilton Trophy colleague Steven Fleming of Linlithgow, the 14th seed.
The final lasted 24-ends and its first major highlight came with a five end run of 1, 2, 2, 1, 2 from Whitfield that brought a vision of the title into his sharp focus at 17-10 up.
Sweeney raised the temperature of the final and heightened the tension as he battled back to within one shot at 18-17, however the melting pot climax saw Whitfield card three sizzling singles for the loss of one – and trigger a jubilant £1000 Masters salute.
“I am a bit stunned by it all really as thoughts of being crowned the 21st Master seemed a dream too far but I have thoroughly enjoyed the week-long roller-coaster experience and feel like I have been on a rocket to the moon – and I am certainly over the moon at this point in time”.
