Coughlan ready for return to action

Richie Coughlan isn't smelling the azaleas this week. In fact, Augusta National and all its associated brouhaha, and the golfers he shared locker-room space with on the US Tour last year, might as well be a million miles away. It seems a different world from the one he currently occupies.

But things, finally, are looking up. On Wednesday last, his 25th birthday, he played his first pain-free round of golf in almost two months; yesterday, he signed a new contract with Luttrellstown Castle to be their touring professional; and, tomorrow, he heads out to the Far East for a seven-week stint on the Asian Tour. Back to playing golf. Back to doing what he wants to do. Back to basics.

"I haven't played a competitive round since the Tour school in Asia, over three months ago, and I'm gagging to get back out onto the circuit," says Coughlan.

The destination - the Asian PGA Tour - may not have been his first choice, but beggars can't be choosers, and the opportunity to play tournament golf again is an important step towards regaining his desired place among the game's big guns.

His rookie season on the US Tour taught him a good deal, mostly that you have to get on with the job. "What happened to me last year was tough, but I don't think about it any more," he says. "I've just got to grin and bear it, move on. That's why it will be good to play tournament golf again, something I haven't done since last November." Indeed, his preparations have been far from ideal. Apart from a stint in the Dave Pelz school in West Palm beach, Florida, in February - renowned for its influence on a player's short-game - which went well, Coughlan has been troubled by a muscle strain in his chest.

Only treatment from Dr Conor O'Brien, a medical officer with the Irish Olympic Council, enabled him to overcome the problem.

"I'm feeling good, and just keen to get going again. I'm a competitive player by nature, and once I get back playing the engine will kick in," he states.

In fact, his first tournament will be the Macau Open next week, where Lee Westwood and Darren Clarke will also be playing. Then he will take in events in Seoul, two in China and one in the Philippines.

But there is more good news than bad these days. Coughlan has been given a sponsor's invite to play in the Irish Open at Druids Glen - "A big, big week, for me," he says - and he is also hopeful of similar invites to the European Open and the West of Ireland Classic."