£18k pay-day huge boost for Lockerbie
Last updated 11:39, Wednesday, 07 May 2008
GARY LOCKERBIE hopes his impressive finish at the Spanish Open will spark the change of fortunes he needs to keep his European Tour card.
The Penrith pro tied for 22nd place in Seville, collecting a useful £18,000 for his efforts, which saw him finish eight shots behind winner Peter Lawrie with a seven-under-par total of 281.
Sitting in 44th place going into Sunday’s final round, Lockerbie fired in six birdies to shoot up the leaderboard with his score of 68.
The 26-year-old former Walker Cup player boasts two top 10 European Tour finishes in last year’s Malaysian Open and the Singapore Masters but believes those displays were eclipsed by his performance in Spain in which he shook off the ring-rust in style after two months off.
Lockerbie, who was preparing for tomorrow’s opening round at the Italian Open in Milan, said: “I played very well in patches and I was very satisfied with the outcome. It was nice to get a decent week’s golf under my belt and it’s just the confidence boost I need.
“It was probably the most consistent golf I’ve played on the European Tour.
“Before I came out I would have been happy just making a couple of cuts but I’ve exceeded that, and I’ll be very happy if I make the cut in Italy.”
Lockerbie is preparing for seven weeks of relentless golf, with this week’s Italian Open followed by a string of Challenge Tour events.
The 2003 English amateur champion is focusing mainly on the Challenge Tour – one rung below the European Tour – in an attempt to win back his full European Tour card.
Next week he will play in a Challenge Tour event, Piemonte Open in Turin, followed by the DHL Wroclaw Open in Poland and then the Oceânico Group Pro-Am Challenge at Worsley Park, Manchester.
He said: “Unless I’m consistently winning money on the European Tour, I won’t keep my card so I would hope to keep it by finishing high up the Challenge Tour order of merit.
“ I could be away playing for four or five weeks but my game feels in good shape.
“I haven’t had a lot of events so far so I’ve had time to work on every aspect of my game at home. I’ve put in a lot of hard work and it has paid off.”
