It’s that time of the season again for Craig Lee. While those in the lower reaches of the European Tour’s money list nervously nibble their finger nails into calloused stumps as the fraught fight for survival on the circuit intensifies, Lee will be taking it all in his stride.
For the players hovering around 110th place on the rankings – that is the cut-off for the car-retaining safety zone – things can get rather jittery. It’s a bit like walking down a deserted dark alley and suddenly hearing a tin can rolling along the road behind you.
Perched at No 108 on the order of merit, Lee has every reason to peer anxiously over his shoulder but the Stirling man is staying focused and looking forward. His 25th place finish in the Dunhill Links Champions was a timely tonic and set him up for another late act of escapology.
With only this week’s British Masters and next week’s Portuguese Masters left on the regular tour schedule, it should be a fraught old scramble for those on the bubble.
Lee is well used to the rigours of this golfing relegation dogfight. He kept his car by the skin of his teeth in 2014 and then pulled a top-10 finish out of the bag in the penultimate event of the season last year to safeguard his full playing rights.
"Every year seems to be the same since I've held my card,” said the 39-year-old, who finished a career-high of 59th on the Race to Dubai in 2013 thanks to a runners-up placing in the European Masters. “I always seem to go into the final few events just outside the top 110 and chasing my card.
"But the good thing is that I know I've done it in the past and I certainly take confidence from that. There are a lot of boys around the bubble who might not get into events and some really talented players behind us as well. It's about using those past experiences and not allowing myself to get worked up about the position I'm in.”
Having finished on the fringes of the top-20 in his last two events, Lee, who continues to play with his left wrist heavily strapped up to combat a long-standing niggle, is finding some solid form at just the right time.
“That’s the great thing,” he added. “I’m now going into these events feeling confident again due to playing some good golf. I'm not putting as much pressure on myself to try and get the job done.
"It doesn't take much at this level, especially with how strong the fields are at this time of the year, for it to go the wrong way, but it's in my hands now. That's the most important thing and I'm quietly confident.”
While Lee’s countryman, Marc Warren, came good at the right time with a fifth place finish in the Dunhill Links last weekend which propelled him from 125th to 70th on the rankings, another Scot needs to conjure something special over the next fortnight. Scott Jamieson, who was sitting sixth after day one of the Dunhill but eventually missed the 54-hole cut, is currently 117th on the order of merit and his six-year stay at the top table remains at risk.
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