HAVING already earned more prize money in six months, in excess of 280,000, than during any other full season since he turned professional 14 years ago, it's little wonder Dunbar's David Drysdale feels a weight has been lifted from his shoulders as he looks forward to competing against the world's best golfers this summer.
At the start of a two-week break from tournament golf before he returns to play in half-a-dozen consecutive events, including the French Open, the Barclays Scottish Open and the Open championship, Drysdale is hopeful the removal of stress from th
e work place will bring about the best in his game.
More accustomed to scrapping for survival on the European Tour, the 34-year-old cruised through qualifying at Sunningdale for the Open earlier this week and is keeping his fingers crossed the second half of the most successful season of his career turns out to be just as rewarding as the first.
Drysdale, the highest ranked Scot, 55th, in the Race to Dubai, explained: "I struggled quite a bit in previous years and this is already my best season as a professional. My golf hasn't been anything fantastic over the past couple of months, but I've been steady. I played pretty well at the start of the year and would love to peak now.
"This is a totally different situation I find myself in now than the ones I was in before. It almost feels a little weird. Previously, I was always in the position where I was chasing cheques in order to keep my card. Now my ambition is to give myself another chance of winning, like the one I had in Seville."
Having finished as runner-up to Soren Kjeldsen at the Andalucia Open, the Scot felt he learned an important lesson. "I was probably a bit naïve that day, thinking I had to hit brilliant shots to win," he recalled. "Sometimes it's about not giving anything away."
Although he played as a marker in the Open at Muirfield as a teenage amateur in the Nineties, the opportunity to tee up as a competitor for the first time at Turnberry is another important stepping stone in Drysdale's career. "I was a member at Dunbar when I was growing up and links golf has been a big part of my life," he recalled.
"I'm not biased in any way but having an opportunity to compete in an Open in Scotland, with the support of the fairest and most knowledgeable galleries on the planet, is a dream come true for me. I can hardly wait. I haven't played the Ailsa for a long time and I'm going to Turnberry later this week to play the links for myself. I know there have been a few changes, what with new tees and extra bunkering.
"When I was younger my game would have been influenced by the demands of a links, though I've had to adapt over the years on the European Tour. It would be nice to see Turnberry playing as a fast, running links, though I don't know if it will be given the weather in the west of Scotland. What you do off the tee at most of the links on the Open rota is key since bunkering is the main hazard. If you find one you're usually coming out sideways. Go in a bunker and it's basically a dropped shot.
"When there's a lot of rain and it plays long and soft, that may not play to my strengths. I'm only average length off the tee and would like the course set-up to give you that option of using a 2 or 3 iron off the tee and can get a bit of run out of the fairways. But I can't really say until I see for myself when I go over there. I've heard the conditioning is absolutely fantastic, with hardly a divot in the fairways.
"In spite of where I learned the game, I wouldn't regard myself as a particularly great wind player, although I've done reasonably in places this season when it blew like Portugal, Ireland and at the London club the other week.
"But, of course, I grew up knowing how to play bump and run shots and the low shots around the green you need on a links. I love having all those options. You can think about putting from ten yards off the green or chip and run the ball or take out the lob wedge. It will make a change from having to lob it out from heavy rough round the green all the time, which seems to be the way things are going on the European Tour."
One of seven Scots already assured of a place at Turnberry – Colin Montgomerie, Paul Lawrie, Sandy Lyle, Martin Laird, Gary Orr and Richie Ramsay are the others – Drysdale reckons the home contingent can thrive on the support of the local galleries. "I know how that feels at Loch Lomond for the Scottish Open, and I'm sure it will be even more so at Turnberry," he added.
