It’s not just the ball that can go here, there and everywhere in this game. “There’s money coming out of your account left, right and centre,” said Michael Stewart as he mulled over the financial realities of life in the lower reaches of the paid game.
The withdrawals can be bigger than bloomin’ Brexit at times. Every little helps, however. A timely new year tonic on the Mediterranean Golf Tour recently, with a win and a brace of third place finishes, may not have resonated quite like his old amateur sparring partner David Law’s European Tour victory but a win is a win at any level.
And for Stewart, who was another bright young Scottish thing tipped to make a splash, it’s given him fresh impetus in his efforts to haul himself up the career ladder.
Having done it all at an amateur level – Scottish boys’ and men’s champion, South African Open champion, a Walker Cup winner with GB&I over a USA side featuring Jordan Spieth – Stewart’s unfulfilling seven year stretch in the pro game had him toying with the idea of packing it in. A blether with Law, and a move to Scottish golf’s go-to man, Alan McCloskey, has galvanised the Troon man, though.
“I had pondered giving it up,” added Stewart. “I had not long moved in with my partner and there comes a time when you have to enter the real world. I haven’t been even close to getting off the third-tier in all that time to be honest. But the golfing guys, like David and Ross (Kellett), were really influential in getting me to see Alan. They thought he could help me.
“I had a good chat with David and he explained how Alan had helped his golf and his mind. I said I’d give it one last chance. I had a decent end to 2018 and could see some light at the end of the tunnel.
“David is a great example of what can be done. I played so much golf with him as a junior. When I was thinking of giving up, he said he had been in the similar place on the Challenge Tour with no sign of getting off it. All of a sudden he won, got promoted and then wins on the tour. His life has changed. It’s a huge inspiration for all us Scottish guys.”
McCloskey, the well-respected Bothwell Castle pro who is as bubbly as a well-shoogled magnum of champagne, continues to deliver pearls of golfing wisdom to a variety of home-based players. His approach has clearly struck a chord with Stewart too.
“He’s every bit a psychologist as he is a coach,” said Stewart. “Every time I leave Bothwell I’m better than when I went in. He’s so positive and that’s rubbed off on me.
“Perhaps I should’ve got Alan’s help earlier? It’s easy to point the finger of blame but you have to take responsibility for your own choices. And sometimes you have to go through the tribulations to get to where you want to be. At least I have a first win and that monkey is off my back.”
It’s simple and he puts it in simple terms. It’s been really eye opening. I’m out playing golf again instead of thinking about the technicalities. I stand over the ball now, think of my set up and let the swing go from there. I felt like I was getting great information from the people I was seeing but I couldn’t transfer it into getting results. Making birdies was never a problem. It was keeping the disasters off the card. There were one or two shots that were always costing me at least a double bogey each round. If you want to improve, you have to make your bad golf good. I have to learn how to duff it straight effectively. It’s been nice to get the monkey off my back and get a first pro win.
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