Craig Lee reckons he’s golf’s ‘Humpty Dumpty’ ahead of teeing up in this week’s British Masters and the eighth of ten events in succession as the Scot strives to secure his Tour card.
Lee arrived at Woburn for the first British Masters on the Tour in seven years lying 122nd on the Race to Dubai money list and 11 places shy of retaining full Tour membership for a fourth year running, and with the 106th place S S P Chowrasia to come out of the final standings.
In monetary terms the Stirling golfer is Stg 24,720 short of 111th place that translates to a top-30 finish this week.
“This is going to be my eighth week on the spin now and that’s a lot of golf especially when you get to my age but then there is a lot to play for,” he said.
“Ideally, I was going to take a week off somewhere down the line but then I was never going to take a week off now till the job is done.
Scot Craig Lee reckons he’s golfs Humpty Dumpty.
“So this is now eight weeks on the spin for me and I still can’t afford a week off and I am staring at 10 on the spin if it means securing my Tour card for next year.
“Thankfully I have been able to work with my own physio back home and also the Tour’s physio staff every day and they’re doing a good job of putting ‘Humpty Dumpty’ back together again (laughing).
“But then if I secure my Tour card it will be all worth it and it’s a nice way to spend Christmas and the New Year knowing you have a job to go to after that.”
This week’s event on the Marquess Course is Lee’s 26th this year with a pair of back-to-back eighth place results in the Czech Republic and Russia his best but also in a year marked by missing the cut in 13 including the last two.
And what has come as a surprise to the 38-year is that, and unlike many in the field, he’s played the Marquess course in the past.
“When I first arrived here I realised I had been here before playing one of the three courses here at Woburn and I thought that was the Dukes but then when I stepped on the first tee Monday I was surprised that it was in fact the Marquess,” he said.
“I came down just for a bounce game but then I can’t tell why I did come down t hough it was a long while ago.
“But then being here now these next three events for are massive and while I didn’t want to have to go through this again but then I’ve managed to do it before, so I will just have to dig deep.
“I had a wee spell in the middle of this year my golf was just terrible but the game has picked up again and I am starting to play a bit better, and I’ve started to play some nice golf again.
“So the game is not that far away as there was that spell where I missed a couple of cuts by one shot and I was first reserve into Paul Lawrie’s event, so hopefully it’s turned around for the better.
“But then it would be nice to get myself back inside the top-110 but at the end of the day it’s that monetary figure I am striving to reach and that looks like being 245,000 or 250,000 as that will be pretty safe as opposed to trying to finish an event top-10 and so on.
“So schedule-wise I am playing this week, next week’s Portugal Masters and I’ve also added the Hong Kong Open but then it would be nice to wrap-up my card these two weeks and not have to go to Hong Kong.”
Lee is among seven Scots in the £3m event but featuring just 120 players but with Stephen Gallacher withdrawing midway through yesterday’s (WED) Pro-Am fighting a virus that he gone through his family.
And Gallacher will be hoping to shake the bug and cement his place in the Race to Dubai top-60 after moving back to 58th on the money list following his top-20 showing last week in Scotland.
As well, Gallacher’s slipped to 92nd on the World Rankings after his career high of 30th earlier this year.
He said: “I have been seeing the doctor and he’s got me on anti-biotics but I everyone in the family seems to have had it. I just feel knackered and lethargic.
“But aside from that I just want to have a strong finish to the season. I want to try and get back into the top 50 in the world so I’ve got five events to do it.”
