BRITON Lee James, close to giving up golf and applying for a job as a postman last year, now finds himself with a chance to win the Irish Open at Adare Manor this weekend.
Fourteen years ago James was British amateur champion at the same time as Tiger Woods was the American title holder.
They were both at the 1995 Masters, opponents in the Walker Cup later that year and had dreams of striking it rich in the professi
onal game.
Woods, of course, has already made his first £50million. The Englishman, on the other hand, needed 12 trips to the European Tour before he made it through last November and his career earnings on the circuit stand at less than £100,000.
He is 723 places below Woods on the world rankings and he has never finished higher than 10th in any of his 86 events. After rounds of 69 and 73, however, the 35-year-old from Poole is two under par and only four behind French leader Michael Lorenzo-Vera in the £2million tournament.
"I was struggling with a little bit of depression last year and a doctor told me to take a couple of months off," said James.
"Financially it was hard – we couldn't pay for the mortgage – and I had no interest even in going to the club to practice. My wife's been fantastic, though, and she suggested that if I felt the same after one more tournament I should give it up.
"I got a few job applications but didn't send any of them off and then I managed to get some sponsorship. Without that I don't think I could have gone on."
James – so little known that a radio commentator even called him "James Lee" during the day – had a chance to join Lorenzo-Vera in the lead when he stood over an eagle putt on the long 18th, his ninth.
But after two-putting for birdie he then slipped back with bogeys on the first, fifth and ninth. It will probably be a mental battle more than anything for him over the closing 36 holes.
There are some big names around him on the leaderboard, but Lorenzo-Vera is not one of them.
The 23-year-old from Biarritz is in his rookie season after winning last year's Challenge Tour – and he admits the 7,453-yard course is the toughest he has seen in his life.
After his first sight of it he admitted he thought: "God – how am I going to do that?"
But so far he has done it very well, adding a 70 to his opening 68 for a halfway total of 138.
He took over at the top from Indian Jeev Milkha Singh and Australian Richard Green, who after starting with rounds of 66 could manage only 76 and 74 respectively.
Darren Clarke had criticised the set-up as "ridiculously difficult" after his opening 72, but the Ulsterman shaved three strokes off that on his return to be only three behind.
Playing partner and Ryder Cup team-mate Paul McGinley, also unhappy about the 7,453-yard length, looked set to go even lower until he missed three-footers on the final two greens.
A six went on the Dubliner's scorecard and meant he signed for a 69 and a two-under total.
The full article contains 560 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
