Daniel Young stopped in his tracks by untimely hooter in weather-hit British Masters
Perth man boosted by fightback at The Belfry as he battles to hold on to his DP World Tour card
Daniel Young finally completed his opening round in the Husqvarna British Masters on Friday morning - just over 24 hours after he’d teed off at The Belfry.
Playing in the first group to tee off at the opening hole on the Brabazon Course, Young and his playing partners had just got underway at 7.30am on Thursday when play was suspended at 7.32am due to thunder and lightning.
The action in the $3.5 million DP World Tour event got underway again at 10.32am before being halted for a second time just after noon due to the bunkers at the Sutton Coldfield venue becoming flooded.
Play began again at 4.15pm but hopes of squeezing out every minute of daylight were dashed when the action was halted for the day at 7.11pm, just before an almighty thunderstorm hit the Birmingham area.
That meant Young was faced with another early rise on Friday morning for a 7.30am restart and he finally signed for his card - a level-par 72 - around 15 minutes later.
“Yeah, it was just rough,” admitted the Kingsbarns-attached player of how his Thursday had been. “We teed off at 7.30, walked 30 yards and then they suspended play. Obviously the weather was horrendous, to be fair at that point. But that was the forecast, so I don’t really know why they made us hit just one shot, though it is what it is.
“It was tough as it was persistent rain and that meant a lot of sitting around and, when we then got back out there, the course was playing a lot different than it was on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“The greens were suddenly very soft and spinny and, yeah, it was just a case of trying to adjust as the temperature wasn’t too warm, so it was tricky. Obviously we weren’t the only ones out there and everyone was just battling away.
“When we got back out for a second time at 4.15pm, the weather was really good for a few hours and I have never been so frustrated to hear a hooter in my life than I was last night as I’d got it going.”
That was in reference to having been three over early one before making a birdie at the ninth then three in four holes from the 14th to be heading to the iconic hole at the four-time Ryder Cup venue standing on one under.
‘We’ve still got time to get going’
“I was going well and you know that 18 is a difficult hole,” he added. “Then, when we came back this morning, the wind had changed and it was playing straight into it. It’s a difficult hole at the best of times let alone when the tee shot is into the wind. Having been three over through eight holes, to get it back to level, I’d have taken that. We’ve still got time to get it going.”
As some players, including Ryder Cup star Tyrrell Hatton braced themselves for 36 holes on Friday after not playing at all on Thursday, It is still the plan to play four rounds in the event’s 48th edition.
“We are due to be out again at 6.45pm tonight,” reported Perth man Young of his new scheduled second-round tee time after having originally been due to get underway again at 12.45pm .” So we’ll be back for an hour probably then another restart in the morning.”
One of three Scots to graduate from the HotelPlanner Tour at the end of last season, Young sits 140th in the Race to Dubai and needs to climb into the top 100 before the end of the season to retain his card for next year.
“It’s the business end of the year, though there are still plenty of events to go,” said last year’s Scottish Challenge winner. “The game has been in good shape. Last week was a bit frustrating as I am just struggling to string four rounds together. Having said that, I did well to be in the position I was after three rounds last week (in the Nexo Championship) due to the way things felt out on the golf course.
“Yeah, I feel like most of the season the game has been relatively good. Unfortunately, I’ve just not quite had the results to show for it. There’s plenty of events left, though, that I feel I can do that.
“I think the biggest adjustment I’ve found is probably the strength in depth out here. I feel there are weeks where I have missed the cut by maybe one shot and you kind of feel you’ve done okay or done enough to play at the weekend.
“You’d probably find on the HotelPlanner Tour that you’d be making that cut. Maybe not comfortably, but you’d certainly be in for the weekend. I think this year - and you see it in both tours - that it is so bunched after two rounds and you know that if you can play at the weekend and have two good rounds, then you are suddenly top ten, top five or whatever it might be and you’ve turned an average week into a good one. It’s just a case of trying to get into the weekend then getting your skates on, I suppose.
“Obviously at this time of the year and where I am sitting, I don’t think you can put too much emphasis on that. You’ve just got to try and keep playing good golf and then the results will hopefully take care of themself.
“It’s very easy to get bogged down in the results in this game and you can get down a rabbit hole. Yeah, just keep trying to play good golf and see where it leaves me at the end of the year.”
Helped by making four birdies in a row on the spin at the start of the back nine and making six in total to come home in 30, Spaniard Nacho Elvira set the clubhouse target with a seven-under-par 65.
Race to Dubai leader Patrick Reed had to settle for a one-under 71, with newly-crowned Nexo champion Scott Jamieson running up a double-bogey 6 at the ninth - his final hole - for a 75.
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