Open-minded Lane back on track

Just like wine, apparently, Barry Lane is one of those golfers who seems to be ageing rather well. If you can forget about the faulty elbow and the dodgy knee - he split something called his meniscus in his right knee three years ago when he jumped off a wall - and, oh, his aching back, then the likeable Englishman, now 44, is probably playing some of the best golf of his career.

Yesterday was another of those good days that have favoured him more often than not this season.

In shooting a second round 68 for five-under-par 137, Lane - who won the British Masters last May, the fifth win of his career - jumped into contention in the British Open, or as he described it, "the biggest one".

Given that this is his 13th appearance in the major, and his best finish was 13th at Royal St George's in 1993, it would seem that Lane has managed to turn back the years.

Every morning and every night, Lane is forced to have a massage.

"My knees are aching and my elbows are aching, but it doesn't seem to stop me playing golf.

"But, you know, you're going to get some aches and pains at my age, after playing 20 odd years on the tour. You're doing something, swinging a club, that's an unnatural movement. When I first started, there weren't really many gyms or anything like that. So we're sort of catching up."

His form this season, however, has been a revelation.

Currently 17th on the European Tour Order of Merit, a throwback to the early-1990s when he regularly featured at the right end of the money list and played his way onto the European Ryder Cup team in 1993 for his one and only appearance, Lane is a player who believes that his experience should stand to him as he heads into unfamiliar territory over the weekend.

"Obviously, I do have experience," said Lane, "but you've got to be realistic . . . it is the Open Championship, and you've still got to play very well.

"I have a lot of knowledge of what I'm trying to do, but the important thing is to play the golf course and to play it well."

In his formative professional years, Lane went to the tour school seven times before finally becoming a permanent feature on the circuit.

Despite missing the cut in his last three events - the French Open, the European Open and the Scottish Open, tournaments he played while suffering from a back injury - Lane, fit again, has rediscovered the knack of scoring and birdied his final two holes, holing from 20 feet and then 25 feet.

These days, he is playing with confidence - which hasn't always been the case.

"You have to have a positive mindset, and I don't think I had that at stages in my career.

"I think in the early '90s everything was happening very nicely and I was winning a tournament each year and finishing in the top 10 of the Order of Merit, and I never really thought about it.

"Then I saw Jos (Vanstiphout) for a few years, but I stopped last year. But I've since read a few books and I never realised how mental the game is . . . I'd say it is probably 95 per cent between the ears really. It is a big, big thing.

"If you tell yourself you love the hole, and love hitting it in the fairway, it makes a big difference.

"On different things like that, you have to be positive, but try to take it one shot at a time, because you only have 30 seconds to hit a golf shot, so you don't have to concentrate that much.

"Just on each shot and focus on what you're trying to do and not worry about anybody else.

"I think I've learned an awful lot in the last three years about myself and golf and everything. You're always learning." Today, he'll find out just how much he has learned.