Uihlein and Koepka's European road trip pays off as American duo reap the rewards
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One of the great, barely-told stories of this European season has been the glorious road trip undertaken by two young American pros who gave up the chance to learn their trade back home and decided to see the world instead.
And so they took a plane to Europe and began a season that has seen them eat horsemeat in Kazakhstan and swim with the sharks in South Africa. Between them, they've visited more than 25 countries.
On form: Uihlein playing in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews
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The golf? Oh yes, that's been pretty
good too. All they had to go on were four guaranteed starts on the
Challenge Tour but Peter Uihlein won the Madeira Open in March to earn
promotion to the European tour where he currently stands 10th in the
Race to Dubai with earnings of a shade under £1 million.
If you want to know what sort of man
Uihlein is, well a couple of weeks ago he won the team prize at the
Alfred Dunhill Links pro-am at St Andrews and promptly donated £10,000
to the Scottish Golf Union to pay for future expenses incurred by his
playing partner Bradley Neil, the promising 17 year old Scottish Boys
Champion.
You're going to enjoy following the
progress of his equally likeable pal as well. Brooks Koepka earned his
promotion to the European Tour with three wins in two months on the
Challenge Tour. Last week, he received an invitation to play his first
event on the PGA Tour in America and only went and led the thing with
nine holes to play before reality stepped in and he ended up settling
for a tie for third.
It must have hurt like hell to get so close to a Masters invitation and
the two year exemption that went to the winner but it's entirely typical
of this pair there was no shred of self-pity. 'Today is what makes you
come back for more,' said 23 year old Koepka.
You can see this duo, who share a house in Orlando, playing in future Ryder Cups and proving a formidable partnership. And forever and a day, they will recall the wise decision they took in 2013 to forsake the comforts of home and follow the advice of Peter's father Wally, CEO of Titleist who borrowed a line from 19th century American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson: 'Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.'
Stepping up to the plate: Brooks Koepka finished tied third in the Frys.com Open, his first PGA Tour event
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
'We should do away with drug testing in a heartbeat. It is a complete waste of time and money. Plus, I don't know if steroids are really going to help you hit a golf ball.'
Top man, Brandt Snedeker. But this is precisely the sort of complacent thinking that has to be eradicated in golf.
The tussle to win Tour card is hotting up
Amidst a sea of relaxed faces in Vilamoura last week were a dozen or so pros wracked with tension.
These were the men on the cliff-edge, perched either side of the mark as to who gets to keep his European Tour card for next year and who gets nudged towards the abyss.
Justin Walters was their poster boy, as the 32 year old South African ensured his safety with a 50ft putt on the last at the Portugal Masters and the life-saving prize that went for finishing second.
Scot Chis Doak was another happy soul after a gutsy top ten finish to secure his privileges.
Then there was the likes of Irishman Peter Lawrie, who missed his sixth halfway cut in a row. Now he's flown halfway round the world to Australia for the tournament that will decide his fate. He's dropped to 114th in the Race to Dubai, with the top 110 keeping their cards. 'It has just been horrendous, and it is all my own doing,' he said.
There's 40 year old Englishman Richard Bland, who had a double stress fracture on his pelvis earlier in the year and is playing on with a dodgy knee. Twenty-sixth place last week saw him edge up to 109th, and in sight of safety.
Yes, playing golf for a living might sound like a perfect job. But, like any other, it's no fun at all when your livelihood is at stake.
In the hole: Justin Walters celebrates after holing a 50ft putt to finish second in the Portugal Masters
Big finish: Scotland's Chris Doak secured his Tour card with a top-ten finish in Portugal
Attitude puts off players
What's the prime reason why people stop playing golf in the UK, or have no inclination to play? Cost? The time it takes to play? Factors, no doubt, but a survey by Syngenta of 3,500 people found the numbers playing the game could be doubled if only golf clubs were more friendly, encouraged families, and offered greater flexibility.
Interestingly, 55% of those surveyed said they had no problem with the time it takes to play the game, more the attitudes of those playing it.
Sad to say, but is there one among us who could honestly say that doesn't have a ring of truth to it?
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