Forsyth saga may have happy ending

Golf Correspondent

Thursday 3 November 2011

At 35, Alastair Forsyth can hardly be described as a gnarled veteran but after a season spent trying to regain his full playing rights on the European Tour, the Paisley man has been left feeling his age.

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That’s what hitting rock bottom does to you. After missing the cut in last year’s qualifying school final in Spain, the last grim act of a thoroughly wretched campaign, Forsyth always knew 2011 was going to be a guddle.

The former Scottish PGA champion has been fighting on two fronts during the season but battling away on both the European Tour and the Challenge Tour has left him in something of a golfing no-man’s land. For a two-time tour champion, the drop down in rank has been hard to take.“I thought I would give the Challenge Tour a bash but I’ve found it very difficult,” said Forsyth, who had never played on the second-tier circuit before, having earned a European Tour place the year after he turned pro by winning the qualifying school final in 1999. “I’ll admit I’ve been spoilt on the main tour and when you’ve been a tour winner and been there for 10 years it is a comedown. That’s no disrespect to the Challenge Tour at all because the standard is very high. There are young guys there who are bursting to get on the tour. It’s the same at the qualifying school. I was like that when I started but as an older player that’s been used to the European Tour, it’s hard and awkward trying to work your way back up again.”Having played nine events on the Challenge Tour, Forysth finished 65th in the rankings, 20 places outside the leading 45 that gained entry to this week’s Grand Final, where the 20 European Tour promotion places will be decided. On the main circuit, the Scot has played in 18 tournaments so far, enough to give him a good chance of regaining his full card, but he still languishes outside the all-important top 115 at No 140.It’s not quite a lost cause just yet but events are running out. Forsyth should gain entry to the Alfred Dunhill Championship and the South African Open later this month but would need to pull off something spectacular if he is to avoid another visit to the q-school.Given that he has not had a top-five since he claimed fourth in May’s Iberdrola Open, the form book would suggest that there’s more chance of Bruce Forsyth landing a higher finish, but the Scot is optimistic.After all, he’s not quite as low as he was this time last year. “I said I was at rock bottom so where am I now?” pondered Forsyth, who has recently employed the services of long-time friend and Strathaven head pro, Stuart Kerr.“My golf is certainly better but I’m still low on confidence and I’m still a long way from where I want to be. I’m not daft, I know I have a lot to do and not a lot of events to do it in. But at this time of year there’s always someone who comes from nowhere on the rankings and has that one good week. If I can find the wee spark then hopefully that can be me.”

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Forsyth saga may have happy ending

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