Just under ten years since they met in the Scottish Amateur Championship final at Muirfield, Bob MacIntyre and Daniel Young are set to be reunited in the 153rd Open at Royal Portrush. MacIntyre, who won that title decider in East Lothian, is now one of the game’s leading lights, having broken into the world’s top 20 on the back of two triumphs on the PGA Tour last year and then coming close to winning last month’s US Open at Oakmont. For Young, meanwhile, the subsequent switch to the professional ranks has been a slow-burner, but the Perth man is beginning to make headway in his bid to be back playing against the likes of MacIntyre on a regular basis. He shot a 60 in the closing round of the HotelPlanner Tour’s BlotPlay 9 event a week past Sunday to finish in a tie for third then, in the second leg of a double-header in France, backed that up by securing a share of second spot in the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge on Sunday. Oozing with more confidence than he’s ever had in the paid ranks, Young then came through Tuesday’s Final Qualifier for The Open at Dundonald Links in Ayrshire to join MacIntyre and amateur duo Cameron Adam and Connor Graham in the line up for the season’s final major in a fortnight’s time. “It's a big, big step in my career,” admitted the Perth man - he played his amateur golf at Craigie Hill - of securing a major debut and doing so at a time when he is playing some of the best golf of his career. “Yeah, just a bit of confidence,” he said of his recent sparkling form. “Pléneuf (venue for the BlotPlay 9 event) is not a course where you normally shoot anything below four or five under, so to go that low was a really good round of golf. It’s not often you can go from 30th to third in any event on a Sunday, so that was great. “Graeme Leslie (his stats man) would tell you that I have been getting a little bit impatient this year as I felt my game was a lot better than my results were showing. It was just a case of staying patient and being a bit kinder to myself on the course and just let things come. “I guess shooting ten under gives you that freedom a little bit and then I just continued it into last week and now at Dundonald as well.” Young had already won the South African Amateur Championship in 2015 before finding himself up against MacIntyre in the final of the Scottish equivalent in East Lothian. At the halfway stage in the 36-hole title decider, Young found himself four up before his younger opponent came roaring back in the afternoon round to pull off a stunning two-hole victory. “Yeah, a good few years ago now,” he said, smiling, of that meeting. “We had a great final. Went 36 holes and he pipped me at the last. No hard feelings if I can turn around my career into what he's done so far (laughing). “Golf is ruthless. Everybody's where they are for a reason. I'm on the HotelPlanner Tour for a reason. Bob's where he is for a reason. If you just keep ticking away, playing good golf, the rest will take care of itself.” Having given his best account so far last year when making it to the season-ending Grand Final in Mallorca before ending up 32nd in the rankings, the 33-year-old’s main goal this season is to graduate to the DP World Tour from the second-tier HotelPlanner Tour. Sitting sixth after his recent purple patch, it’s very much a possibility. “Just wrap up the card for the DP World Tour, really,” he said in reply to being asked about his aspirations for the season beyond The Open. “Yeah, as soon as I can. First and foremost, I'm just trying to win every time I tee up. But the ultimate goal is to get to the DP World Tour.” A strong showing in Northern Ireland would be helpful in that respect and, unlike fellow Dundonald Links qualifier Graham and Adam as well, Young has a bit of experience when it comes to Royal Portrush. “In my last year as an amateur, I played it in the Home International, so I'm relatively familiar with it,” he said. “But it'll be interesting to see the changes (made for the event’s long-awaited return to the County Antrim venue in 2019). “Obviously, I watched a little bit on TV when Shane Lowry won, so you kind of see bits and bobs. Yeah, I feel like it's probably one of the harder Open venues out there, which I feel like might suit my game. I'm driving it great and tee to green has been really solid most of the year. So, if I can take the game I had today into Portrush, there's no reason why we can't do well.”