Weekend scoring is frustrating

The QUEST goes on, and I must admit that it is all a touch frustrating. I've now played in 10 tournaments on the US Tour as a professional and made the cut in seven of them. But I haven't managed to score the low figures over the weekend that make the difference between a really big pay-day and just an average one.

For instance, in the Shell Houston last weekend, I picked up another $4,562 in prizemoney, which is fine, terrific money for a 24-yearold "rookie" just out of college; the reality, though, is that I need to be shooting in the 60s after making the cut to get the sort of money that will get me towards treble figures and close to retaining my card. I estimate I need $200,000 to achieve that aim. As things stand, I'm just short of $30,000, so there is a lot of work ahead of me and that's why I have to commit myself to the US Tour this season.

There really is a very fine, thin line between making the big bucks and not making them. I'm frustrated, okay, but it's not getting to me because my confidence is high and I feel I'm very, very close to my top game. At The Woodlands last week, I actually played well over the weekend and, on Sunday, I was two under par after nine holes. However, I knew I needed a few more birdies and, so, at the par five 13th, I had 200 yards to the green for my second and I went with a four iron. I had a pretty bare lie and probably should have laid up, but I knew I had to go for it. Unfortunately, I put it in the water.

That was the fourth water ball I had in four rounds which, I estimate, probably cost me five or six shots. So, that's an indication of how thin that line really is.

When I look back, though, I know how close I am. I'm just so close to the game, and it is annoying that I'm playing well and not getting the scores, especially over the weekend. If any player can get his putting going, then it is like a money machine out here on the tour. It is a matter of turning two shots on the green into one, and of turning three shots around the green into two. That's the difference, really. However, it is a learning process every week and I believe that I am taking every lesson on board.

I enjoyed an unexpected rest day back home in Clemson yesterday. When I finished playing in Houston, I hopped into my Jeep Cherokee and drove up to South Carolina, because it isn't too far from Atlanta. I intend driving back down today to Sugarloaf, the venue for this week's BellSouth Classic, which is a country estate set in over 1,400 acres. The course is relatively new and I haven't played it before, but I'll have a practice round when I get there today and I'll also play in the Pro-Am tomorrow.

Originally, I hadn't intended to travel to Clemson, but I'm glad that I did; not only did it give me an opportunity to do my laundry, but it also gave me a chance to meet my coach, some of my friends from college and I also met with the Ping representatives.

Ping are my club sponsors and I also have a contract with Sports Master, a New York clothing company. I'm also very pleased to say that I'll shortly be carrying the Birr crest on my bag. I've recently signed up with my home club to represent them as their touring professional, and that really means an awful lot to me. They're making the crest at the moment and I'll be very proud to carry it on the fairways of the US. I won't be behind the door in letting people over here know about the place.

I'd also love to have a major sponsor, one that I can put on my shirt. But I'm aware that takes time and, hopefully, it will happen. The better I perform, the quicker it will happen, I expect.

Anyway, I'm midway through a four-week stretch on the tour which I figured would be very important towards retaining my card. I'm playing well, but haven't won as much prizemoney as I'd set out to win.

I'm having the time of my life, though, and I'm determined to retain my card and do it all again next season. I'm very happy with life and I fully intend to keep plodding away. I just hope to hit one of those low-scoring days when everything slots into place and everything goes my way. I just know it is going to happen.

(in an interview with Philip Reid)