Pain in the rain ended hopes in Ireland, but now I'm set for Sweden

Published on Tuesday 5 August 2008 23:06

LAST week gave me the latest example of what the luck of the draw can do to a golfer's tournament play.

After a decent morning at Glasson in Ireland, the rain came down in biblical proportions in the afternoon, just as I was about to tee off for the Challenge Tour event.

We had a couple of delays on the course, standing beside greens as greenkeepers drained them, and ultimately I didn't cope as well with the conditions as some others and missed the cut after similar rain on Friday. That's not an excuse – it is part of the game that you cannot guarantee the same conditions for everyone, but it can be tough when you are battling to keep yourself and your equipment dry.

I'm having a week off from tournament play this week, but that doesn't mean any less golf. In fact, it can often mean more. I'll be doing plenty work with my coach and visiting the gym five times for fitness sessions, while there will also be a chance to catch up on the US PGA Championship from tomorrow.

This will represent an interesting comparison from our own Open Championship. The wind and rain most likely won't be anywhere near as bad at Oakland Hills as it was at Birkdale last month.

However, the USGA always set the courses up as tough as possible and that in itself makes it a monumental challenge. As I said after the Open, I have no problem with that; I don't see the fun in a major championship where the winner heads a group of players all sitting between 15 and 20 under.

Lee Westwood's second place in the WGC Invitational last week will have given him more cause for optimism after he did so well in the US Open. He looks like he believes he can win in America. Paul Casey also did well at the WGC and Ian Poulter is on good form; all of that is good news with the Ryder Cup just around the corner. Poulter is one of a group of guys battling to secure their places in Nick Faldo's team, which makes for an interesting few weeks.

I'll see some big names at the Scandinavian Masters in Sweden next week, a tournament I qualified for after doing well at the Russian Open. In hindsight, it is good to have this free week to prepare fully for. It is getting to the time of year when your mind can wander towards exemptions for the new season, tour school and what events I can progress to play in during 2009, but it is important to keep focused on the job in hand every time I step on to the tee.

The weather and odd struggle aside, there were a lot of good things about my game last week and the memories of Russia are still strong; getting to play another fantastic course next week is enough motivation to make practice sessions work in the next few days.