Stephen Gallacher is very hopeful of ending a third Stateside sojourn this season on a positive note with a good showing in this week’s Players Championship at Ponte Vedra, Florida.
Gallacher is competing in the lucrative $US 10m event for a second year running and quietly confident of playing all four rounds after missing the TPC Sawgrass cut on debut a year ago.
The Scot arrived back to Florida’s Sunshine State from San Francisco where he missed out by a stroke in making it to the last 16 in the WGC – Cadillac Championship.
Joining Gallacher was long-time coach Allan McCloskey who jetted in from Edinburgh late Saturday afternoon local time but was headed back home today (WED) after Gallacher wound-up an 18-hole practice round.
“I’ve done all my homework and now just looking forward to getting started,” said the Scot.
Stephen Gallacher about to delight one spectator with an autograph at the end of his final Players Championship practice round. (Photo – www.golffile.ie)
“It’s been great to again have Allan here this week but then there’s been nothing drastically wrong with my game, and it’s been more just fine-tuning.”
And Gallacher says key to improving on last year’s rounds of 70 and 78 is playing the final three holes – the par five 16th, the infamous island green par three 17th and the daunting par four 18th with water down the entire left side – each day in no worse than level par.
“It’s going to depend on the wind how well you can play the last three holes because if the winds into you going down 16 then it means 17 and 18 are both downwind and vice versa if 16 is downwind,” he said.
“So it’s all about the elements but then you want to play the three holes in level par and if so, I would be delighted with that.
“Then if you take today (WED) standing on that 17th tee was really daunting having to hit it as the wind was really all over the place.
“But the good thing is that the greens are really soft and that’s going to help these first few days.”
There was no concern for Gallacher’s caddy Damien Moore in finding the 17th green for a second year running, and in the now annual ‘Caddy’s Nearest To Pin Contest’ landing his shot 34-foot from the flag.
Joining Gallacher is fellow Russell Knox who lives just a 10-minute drive at Jacksonville Beach from the course.
Knox, like Gallacher, made his debut a year ago in sharing 34th place.
And Martin Laird faces a long overnight wait as he’s first reserve and hoping to make a seventh straight appearance should anyone withdraw.
Laird has competed in every Players Championship since a first appearance in 2009 and has fond memories of ending in a four-way share of second place in 2012 behind American Matt Kuchar.
