After claiming the Allied Surveyors Scottish Amateur Championship title at Prestwick, John Gallagher made an impassioned plea to the Walker Cup selectors to pick the man he had just beaten.
The cack-handed golfer from Edinburgh's Swanston New club produced an astonishing performance on Saturday to come back from an injury enforced five-week lay-off to play nine rounds of golf in a week and emerge as champion.
His touch on and around the greens proved too much in the morning round of the 36-hole final as he built a four-hole lead over Keir McNicoll, the Carnoustie golfer he partnered in last season's Home Internationals.
Having played little golf since suffering a wrist fracture in February, Gallagher has long been resigned to having no chance of Walker Cup selection in spite of helping Scotland to back-to-back Home International wins over the last two years. However, the man who made his name when he finished runner-up at the British Amateur Championship in 2005 believes McNicoll has done more than enough.
"I feel for Keir, because I know what it's like to lose a big final, but if the selectors have been watching, then they should pick him," he said.
As well as delivering that blunt message to Colin Dalgleish, the former Scottish Amateur champion who is this year's Walker Cup captain, and his fellow selectors, who were meeting yesterday to finalise their team, Gallagher gave the Scotland management plenty to ponder.
They had pretty much discounted his chances of playing in next month's Home Internationals, but with the decisions of Lloyd Saltman (after the Walker Cup) and Richie Ramsay to turn professional the idea of making that defence without the national champion is surely unthinkable.
Particularly so after the way he showed extraordinary composure to come back from four down with six to play in his semi-final against Allan Thomson, before outplaying McNicoll on Saturday.
That he was under-prepared and is still waiting to have that wrist properly treated, so has been coping with shooting pains to his hands as a result, only serves to demonstrate what a competitor he is.
Now that it has become an issue, Gallagher stated a willingness to postpone remedial surgery, due to take place on September 4, in order to play his part. He went on to explain that the surgery is happening when it is only because the specialist is on holiday until then.
"I don't think it should be too difficult to push it back a bit and I will definitely play if they want me," Gallagher went on.
"John got through last week better than expected and if he's fit and available then the selectors will consider him," said Hamish Grey, the Scottish Golf Union's chief executive.
"He is going to rest his injury from now until the Homes. He may not play any golf in that time, but he hardly played before winning the amateur title and it proved to be not a bad strategy."
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