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Scottish golfer opens up on issues that left him feeling 'worn down'
By Martin Dempster - The ScotsmanAfter tough time, Peebles man Craig Howie feels ready to start climbing the ladder againCraig Howie feels ready to âturn things aroundâ after admitting that a combination of playing poorly, losing his status and having health issues had âworn me downâ at the end of last season.
The Peebles man was playing on the DP World Tour as recently as 2022 and, finishing 135th in the Race to Dubai that season, wasnât far away from retaining his seat at the top table.
In 2020, when Challenge Tour players secured some unexpected starts in DP World Tour events during the Covid pandemic, Howie finished joint-fourth in the Austrian Open and shared fifth spot in the ISPS Handa UK Championship.
Since finding himself back on what is now called the Hotel Planner Tour, though, itâs been a bit of a struggle for the University of Stirling graduate, finishing 37th in the Road to Mallorca Rankings in 2023 but then dropping to 87th last year.
That left Howie, who won the Range Servant Challenge by Hinton Golf on the second-tier tour in 2021 as he graduated at the end of that season along with Ewen Ferguson, missing out on the circuitâs season-starting South African Swing.
But, thanks to the set up in place through the Farmfoods Scottish Challenge supported by The R&A for invitations in other events, his 2025 campaign is about to get underway with a double-header in India, starting with the Kolkata Challenge this week.
âMy winter has looked slightly different to previous years,â Howie, who is managed by Paul Lawrie through his Five Star
âThings obviously havenât gone to plan since graduating from the Challenge Tour in 2021. Last year was definitely my toughest mentally, especially by the back end of the season where the game had just worn me down.
âThis lay-off has given me some much needed time away from competition. Itâs given me the opportunity to figure out a few things and make some changes across the board.â
A significant one was deciding to link up with Alan McCloskey, the Bothwell Castle professional who has worked with both Lawrie and David Law among others on their swings in recent years.
âAfter Q-School last year, I got stuck into a few swing faults, nothing too major but Iâd fallen into an exaggerated left pattern that needed to be softened,â added Howie. âWe have done a really good job with that now and Iâve seen some positive results so far. I played a couple of warm up events in Portugal in February to get ready for India and the game was in good shape.â
Howie has secured a Category 4a spot in this weekâs event along with Calum Fyfe, Sam Locke and Gregor Graham, the quartet joining Hotel Planner Tour regulars Law, Euan Walker, Daniel Young and Ryan Lumsden in flying the Saltire at Royal Calcutta Golf Club.
âIâm looking forward to getting going in this Indian Swing,â said Howie. âWe play two fantastic courses and, whilst my results last year werenât anything to shout home about, I believe they are two courses I can absolutely compete on.
âIâve already ran into a slight problem, however. I currently have no golf clubs as they never made it onto my flight from Dubai earlier in the week and I am very much hoping they will make it to Kolkata before the tournament starts.
âAs for the season as a whole, thereâs reason to be optimistic. I believe Iâm already doing a lot of good things so far this year and I think I can turn that into good results.
âPlaying poorly, losing status or having health issues are never fun at the time, but I do think all these things will make me a better player going forward, definitely a more resilient person, and itâs lit a fire under my ass to turn things around and prove Iâve got what it takes.â
Sports Agency, told The Scotsman. âIâve spent more time in Peebles over the last five months than I have over the previous five years combined!
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David Law determined to retain DP World Tour card
Another excellent week for Scotlandâs David Law in South Africa
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'It's strange to say it is exciting' - Scottish golfer on being back on Challenge Tour
By Martin Dempster - The Scotsman
David Law admits it might sound âstrangeâ for him to be âexcitedâ to be back on the Challenge Tour, but heâs not only hoping it will be a brief return but can also help him become a DP World Tour winner again.
In his first event on the newly-rebranded Hotel Planner Tour since losing his main tour card at the end of last season, the Aberdonian finished joint-fifth in the SDC Open at Zebula Golf Estate & Spa in Limpopo on Sunday.
Law, who closed with a nine-under-par 63, described it as a ânice way to start off the yearâ and will now be aiming to build on that effort in three more events in South Africa, starting with this weekâs MyGolfLife Open at Pecanwood Golf & Country Club in Hartbeespoort.
âIâve got four weeks in South Africa and my mindset is really good,â said the 33-year-old, who, helped by winning the Scottish Challenge in Aviemore, graduated from the Challenge Tour at the end of the 2018 season before landing his maiden DP World Tour win in the ISPS Handa Vic Open early the following year.
âI finished last season feeling really disappointed with how the regular season finished and to then not get my card at the Q-School was disappointing. But, at the same time, it kind of spurred me on to work hard over the past few weeks. Look, I am excited, to be honest, which sounds strange being back on the Challenge Tour.
âHowever, itâs an opportunity for me to try and improve and, fingers crossed, spend a bit more time in contention and just get a little bit better at competing again.
âItâs tough to get in contention on the main tour, so you donât get the opportunity very often to be competing. Obviously it can be tough out here as well, but I am trying to look at it as positively as I can.â
Meanwhile, Scott Jamieson is hoping he can use a brace of top-ten finishes in his first four starts on the 2025 DP World Tour schedule to get in the mix for a PGA Tour card.
âSame as always,â replied the Florida-based player to being asked about his goals for this year after backing up a tie for ninth in the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open just before Christmas with a share of eighth spot in the Ras Al Khaimah Championship on Sunday.
âTo keep improving and, if you play well, it opens so many doors. Everyone out here has lofty goals of getting one of those ten (PGA Tour) cards but you canât get them in January of February. Youâve just got to take every day as they come.â
Jamieson is teeing up in this weekâs Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship then the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, the event which saved his DP World Tour card at the end of the 2023 campaign.
âIt is always nice to play with the sun on your back and Iâm not afraid to play in a little bit of wind either so, yeah, it is usually a good spot for me,â said the 41-year-old of his record in the Middle East.
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Meet the 22 golfers who are stepping up to DP World Tour in 2025
By Martin Dempster - The Scotsman
A total of 22 players who started out on the Challenge Tour in 2024 will be stepping up to the DP World Tour for the start of the new campaign in a few weeksâ time.
Here are the graduates who will be hoping they can back up 15 of the 20 players to earn the same opportunity 12 months ago retaining DP World Tour cards for the 2025 campaign:
The 25-year-old Dane Rasmus Neergaard Petersen secured automatic promotion after winning three times this season before capping off a brilliant year by finishing at the top of the Road to Mallorca Rankings.
The 37-year-old Englishman, who played in the same GB&I Walker Cup team as Rory McIlroy in 2007, also landed a hat-trick of victories in regaining a seat at the top table for the third time in his career.
Oliver Lindell
The 26-year-old Finnish player recorded three second-place finishes, two of which came late in the season during an eye-catching run of form that also included a third.
Angel Ayora
At 20, the Spaniard is the youngest of the âClass of â24â and underlined his talent by opening with a course-record ten-under-par 62 in the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final supported by The R&A.
Hamish Brown
The Dane with a Scottish name - his father Marcus hails from Perthshire - secured his step up to the main tour for the first time at the age of 25 on the back of a brace of title triumphs.
Conor Purcell
Another double winner this year, the 27-year-old Irishman is stepping up to the main tour for the first time after making progress in each of his four campaigns on the Challenge Tour.
Kristoffer Reitan
The Norwegian, who started the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final sitting 36th in the standings, was the biggest winner in terms of a card position in Mallorca as a a breakthrough success in the season finale saw him jump to seventh.
Joakim Lagergren
After losing the main tour card heâd held for eight consecutive campaigns and winning the Sicilian Open in 2018, the 32-year-old Swede will be back sitting at the top table again next season.
Jack Senior
The 36-year-old Englisman, who won the SSE Scottish Hydro Challenge in Aviemore in 2015, has teed up another season on the DP World Tour, where he has made more than 100 appearances and earned just under âŹ1 million.
Joel Moscatel
Helped by a brace of wins this season, including one on home soil in the Challenge de Espana, the 26-year-old Spaniard will be embarking on his first campaign on the main tour.
Mikael Lundberg
The 31-year-old Swede lost his top-tier card after finishing 142nd in last seasonâs Race to Dubai but, helped by a win in the Bainâs Whisky Cape Town Open, has bounced straight back.
Alexander Levy
After winning five times on the DP World Tour, the Frenchman found himself back on the Challenge Tour this season after finishing 126th in last seasonâs Race to Dubai but, on the back of six top-ten efforts, he is returning to top-tier action in 2025.
Benjamin Hebert
The 37-year-old Frenchman, who lost in a marathon play-off to Bernd Wiesberger in the 2019 Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club, finished 59th after finding himself playing on the Challenge Tour last season but it was job done this time thanks to a consistent campaign that produced eight top tens.
Robin Williams
Though he would also have secured a step up from the Road to Mallorca Rankings, the 23-year-old South African earned his promotion through the Race to Dubai points list after finishing joint-fourth in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship
Dean Germishuys
After earning a step up for the 2023 season, the South African narrowly missed out on holding his DP World Tour card but has got it back again after producing a strong season, which included finishing second on home soil in the SDC Open.
Bjorn Akesson
The 35-year-old Swede is returning to the DP World Tour after a nine-year absence, having teed up his graduation through winning the NMB Championship in South Africa early in the season.
Martin Couvra
The 21-year-old Frenchman, who won last yearâs Challenge de Espana as he finished 46th in the standings, capped an eye-catching second campaign by jumping up two spots with a top-ten finish in the season finale.
Brandon Robinson Thompson
A colourful character, the Englishman produced one of the most-impressive performances of the season when winning the Farmfoods Scottish Challenge supported by The R&A by eight shots at Newmachar. He is making the step up for the first time at the age of 32.
Tapio Pulkkanen
The man who always wears a trilby on the golf course has regained the card he lost at the end of last season, having recorded six top-ten finishes to be playing on the main tour again.
Pierre Pinau
The 25-year-old Frenchman chalked up eight top-ten finishes - his best being a tie for fourth in the Farmfoods Scottish Challenge supported by The R&A - to be making the step up for the first time after three seasons on the Challenge Tour.
Nicolai Von Dellingshausen
The German finished 75th in the Race to Dubai two years ago before losing his card at the end of last season but, after being the man in most danger in 22nd spot heading into the season finale, it was job done for the 31-year-old.
Lucas Bjerregaard
The Dane, who won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in 2018, survived a nervy last day to secure the final spot and set up an opportunity to get his career back on track after four disappointing seasons on the DP World Tour
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Why it's time for the golfing Gods to shine on Scotland's patient golfer
BY Martin Dempster - The Scotsman
Itâs not just Rory McIlroy who deserves the golfing Gods to be kind to him before this year is out. It would be cruel, after all, if Euan Walker came up agonisingly short for the third season running in his bid to step up to the DP World Tour as a Challenge Tour graduate.
Needing to finish in the top 20 in the Road to Mallorca Rankings to join the likes of Bob MacIntyre, Grant Forrest, Ewen Ferguson, David Law, Calum Hill and Connor Syme in securing promotion from the second-tier circuit in the past few years, the Ayrshireman finished 24th in 2022 then 26th last year.
On both occasions, Walker decided against paying a visit to the DP World Tour Qualifying School when that would have offered him an alternative route in his quest to earn a seat at the top table, sticking to his belief that a card gained through the Challenge Tour will give him a better chance of a sustained spell on the main circuit.
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Robinson-Thompson seals dominant victory in Aberdeen
The Englishman led by four shots heading into the final round at Newmachar Golf Club and never looked like being caught, firing six birdies and a solitary bogey for a five under par final round of 66 to reach 22 under par, eight shots ahead of Denmarkâs Hamish Brown in second.
The 31-year-old, who carded a sensational nine under 62 on moving day to put himself in position to close out victory, was delighted to continue his low-scoring week to win by such a large margin.
âIâm a little lost for words at the moment,â he said. âWinning is great, but winning by eight is something else.
Iâve always felt I had something in me like this. The margin of victory is just the icing on the cake, but it means Iâm doing some really good stuff.
âIt wasnât all plain sailing. I was struggling to find the face towards the end of the front nine, but as the round went on, I just got more comfortable, and the last four or five holes I strung some good shots together and made some nice putts. Finishing like that to seal the deal was really nice.â
Robinson-Thompson, who won his maiden Challenge Tour title at the 2023 Irish Challenge, came close to defending his title at The K Club last week before finishing in a tie for third, a result that makes this victory all the sweeter as he pursues promotion to the DP World Tour.
âMaybe you could call it redemption for last week,â he added. âI didnât do a whole lot wrong in Ireland, I felt like it was all there.
âComing into this week I wouldnât have predicted this exactly, but I knew I was doing the right stuff. Iâm really grateful that everything came together this week.
âMy coach said I need to win twice if I want a DP World Tour card. I needed to refocus and rededicate myself in certain areas and it really lit something inside me. The goal is still to win twice, no matter where it be, and weâre going to do everything we can to do that.â
South African Robin Williams finished in third place on 13 under par, one shot clear of Frenchman Pierre Pineau and Northern Irish duo Jonathan Caldwell and Dermot McElroy in fourth, while South African Bryce Easton carded a six under 65 to finish seventh at 11 under par.
Robinson-Thompsonâs victory catapults him into ninth place on the Road to Mallorca Rankings, while Brown rises to third on 901 points after his runner-up finish. Denmarkâs Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen remains in pole position on 1,077 points, 26 points ahead of Englishman John Parry in second.
The Road to Mallorca now heads to Finland for the Vierumäki Finnish Challenge at Vierumäki Resort from August 15-18.
https://www.europeantour.com/challenge-tour/farmfoods-scottish-challenge-supported-by-the-r-a-2024/
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Farmfoods Challenge - Newmacher Golf Club 8th-11th August
Farmfoods Scottish ChallengeNewmachar Golf ClubLink to Round 2 leaderboard
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