CRAIG Davis has been crowned the R&A Senior Amateur Champion after a thrilling play-off battle.

The American duo of Davis and Gene Elliott were tied at the top of the leaderboard at North Berwick Golf Club after the three rounds with a score of 207.

That meant a play-off between the duo to decide an outright winner, with Davis winning after a third play-off hole.

The 57-year-old software engineer from Chula Vista, near San Diego, sank the winning putt with a 40-year-old PGA Tommy Armour putter he was advised to buy by his teaching professional when he was 16.

“It’s fantastic to win this,” said Davis, who shot three rounds of 69. “I never thought I was capable of winning – just hoped to make the top 20 to be exempt next year. Now I believe I’m exempt into the British and US Senior Opens next year as a result of this win, which is great.

“I’m over here with 11 family members and we went to the Edinburgh Military Tattoo last night, which brought us all to tears. So special. It made today magical and we’re all in love with Scotland.”

More than 140 golfers from countries ranging from Australia to Argentina and Brazil to Norway took part in the competition.

John Fraser was the highest placed Scot, finishing joint seventh with a score of 210 – three behind the winner.