Golf: Gallacher targets his 'big five'

The Lothians star, pictured below, finished 26th in the Race to Dubai last year, his best performance since 2004, the season he won the Dunhill Links.

He's behind both Andalucian Open winner Paul Lawrie, on-form Fifer Peter Whiteford and promising rookie Scott Jamieson in this year's standings.

But, starting tomorrow with the US Open, Gallacher has a run of events coming up that have bags of money, as well as world ranking points, up for grabs.

"After the US Open, it's the BMW International in Germany, the French Open, the Barclays Scottish Open then The Open - five massive tournaments," the 36-year-old told the Edinburgh Evening News.

"And, if you can hit form in these five weeks, that's your year made. If you do well in the US Open and The Open, you can also have the USPGA to look forward to, so the next five tournaments will make or break my season."

A year ago, on the back of a fourth-place finish in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, Gallacher was on fire as he produced a string of consistent performances.

They included a top-25 in The Open at St Andrews followed by a share of 18th in the USPGA at Whistling Straits.

By contrast, he's missed the cut in his last three events this season but is confident it won't take much to turn things around again.

"Last year my putting was exceptional and, as a result of that, I was able to get on a roll," he said. "At one stage, I think I made 20 cuts in a row and even when you are playing bad that's what makes the difference.

"This year I'm struggling to hole those same putts and it can snowball from there. You lose a bit of confidence.

"It's like a football player when they're not scoring goals. They'll get a great opportunity but make an mess of it. Recently, I'll have played a good bunker shot only to then miss the putt from three feet.

"It's like being hit by a sucker punch. You then start to try even harder and that puts more pressure on your game.

"I'm hoping it won't be too long before I get back to seeing the ball going in the hole. I changed my putter a couple of weeks ago but now I've gone back to the two-thumb grip.

"It felt a lot better, to be honest, and I'm going to stick with that for a while as I know I've done well with it."It's about being patient."

Before travelling over to Maryland on Saturday to prepare for his second US Open appearance, Gallacher headed up to the Applied Golf Technology facility in St Andrews to get the lies checked on all his clubs.

He also paid a visit to Gullane No.?3 last Wednesday, using that to try and put himself under the sort of pressure with a driver in his hand he'll feel this week at Congressional.

"I wanted to play a course where I could hit driver at every hole even though it's not needed at Gullane No.?3," he declared.

"I wanted to put myself under a bit of pressure so that I feel more comfortable being in that same situation at the US Open. I'm struggling with my driving at the moment and that is almost as important nowadays as the putting due to the fact courses are getting longer and tighter. You have to be in position on the fairways and that is why Luke Donald is doing so well. He's one of the best drivers of the ball in the world and is also up near the top in the short-game stats every week on the PGA Tour.

"Ten years ago, it used to be all about length off the tee. You used to have Woods, Mickelson, Goosen, Els etc - all massive hitters.

"They used to power play golf courses but now you can't do that because they are set up to a certain extent where that is no longer viable.

"Look at the guys in the top ten now. They've all got impressive driving stats. Ian Poulter, for instance, isn't overly long but he's a good driver of the ball, as is Lee Westwood."

Gallacher is flying the Saltire this week along with Martin Laird in a field that contains all the top players in the world apart from the injured Tiger Woods.

"I think the worst thing he could do is come back half-fit and try to compete against the guys in the top ten," noted Gallacher of the American's absence from the event for the first time since 1995.

"If he did that, he would just fall further and further behind because you can't see those guys being out of the mix.

"If he can't give it his all, he's only going to drop further and, let's face it, we want him not only playing, but playing well."

Woods' absence has, in the words of winning Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie, "opened the door" for a number of Europeans to land a first major this week. According to most observers, that is likely to be Donald or Westwood but Gallacher reckons new Italian teenage sensation Matteo Manassero could be in with a shout.

"I played with him in the last two rounds in Malaysia when he won earlier this year," said the Scot. "He has the head of a 36-year-old on his shoulders and a 20-time winner. Again he's not long but he's straight, hits his irons nicely and is a good putter.

"He has a brilliant temperament and he's a lovely guy, too."

Tee-off times in the first two rounds of the US Open at Congressional Country Club, Bethesda, Maryland, on Thursday and Friday (US unless stated, all times BST): (x) denotes amateurs

1st tee Thursday, 10th tee Friday:

1200 and 1740: Daehyun Kim (Kor), Chez Reavie, Shane Lowry (Ire)

1244 and 1824: Matt Kuchar, Paul Casey (Eng), KJ Choi (Kor)

1255 and 1835: Graeme McDowell (N Irl), (x) Peter Uihlein, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa)

1306 and 1846: Henrik Stenson (Swe), Johan Edfors (Swe), Fredrik Jacobson (Swe)

1317 and 1857: Ernie Els (Rsa), Davis Love, Jim Furyk

1328 and 1908: Justin Rose (Eng), Tim Clark (Rsa), Jason Day (Aus)

1813 and 1233: Mark Wilson, Martin Laird (Sco), Peter Hanson (Swe)

1824 and 1244: Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa), Sergio Garcia (Spa), Alvaro Quiros (Spa)

1835 and 1255: Francesco Molinari (Ita), Matteo Manassero (Ita), Edoardo Molinari (Ita)

1857 and 1317: Rickie Fowler, Ian Poulter (Eng), Hunter Mahan

1908 and 1328: Camilo Villegas (Col), Aaron Baddeley (Aus), Brandt Snedeker

1919 and 1339: Kevin Chappell, Dohoon Kim (Kor), Robert Rock (Eng)

10th tee Thursday, 1st tee Friday:

1222 and 1802: Thomas Levet (Fra), Brian Gay, Gregory Havret (Fra)

1244 and 1824: Padraig Harrington (Ire), Angel Cabrera (Arg), Stewart Cink

1255 and 1835: Ryo Ishikawa (Jpn), Anthony Kim, YE Yang (Kor)

1306 and 1846: Luke Donald (Eng), Lee Westwood (Eng), Martin Kaymer (Ger)

1328 and 1908: Bubba Watson, Adam Scott (Aus), Robert Karlsson (Swe)

1813 and 1233: Jason Dufner, Stephen Gallacher (Sco), Seung Yul Noh (Kor)

1824 and 1244: Steve Stricker, Retief Goosen (Rsa), David Toms

1835 and 1255: Rory McIlroy (N Irl), Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson

1846 and 1306: Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Trevor Immelman (Rsa), Zach Johnson

1857 and 1317: Nick Watney, Lucas Glover, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus)

1908 and 1328: Ryan Moore, Robert Allenby (Aus), Rory Sabbatini (Rsa)

1919 and 1339: David Howell (Eng), Kenichi Kuboya (Jpn), Briny Baird

L Westwood 12/1

L Donald 14/1

P Mickelson 16/1

R McIlroy 20/1

D Johnson 25/1

M Kaymer 25/1

K J Choi 33/1

J Rose 50/1

G McDowell 50/1

I Poulter 66/1

C Schwartzel 66/1

M Manassero 66/1

P Casey 80/1

S Garcia 80/1

P Harrington 80/1

E Els 100/1

M Laird 125/1

S Gallacher 250/1