‘Any win will do, I’m not fussy’ says David Drysdale as he chases elusive victory

Scot will make 500th European Tour appearance when golfers are allowed back on the course

David Drysdale came agonisingly close to his maiden victory at the recent Qatar Masters in Doha. Picture: Warren Little/Getty Images

It should have been a milestone week for David Drysdale. It still was, in some respects, given that he turned 45 on Thursday. But that particular day had also been scheduled to mark his 500th European Tour event. When that actually happens now is in the hands of the coronavirus. With professional golf in lockdown, Drysdale is stuck at home in Cockburnspath for the time being and finding life very strange indeed.

“It is such a weird thing to have no football, rugby or even darts to watch on TV,” he said. “I watched snooker from Gibraltar last weekend. It was the only live sport I could find. The world is sitting at home twiddling their thumbs, wondering what the next announcement is going to be from the Prime Minister.”

Drysdale doesn’t intend turning into a couch potato as he waits for that daily update from Boris Johnson during his enforced lay-off. Shortly after arriving home from Dubai with his wife and caddie, Vicky, last weekend, he was out on his sit-on John Deere lawn mower tending to his practice area, which is a few yards from the front door and offers a lovely view out towards the North Sea.

“We’ll be cutting grass every two or three days soon, I’d imagine,” he said, making that sound an exciting prospect. “It will be a case of finding jobs to do to keep busy, and I am actually thinking about building another tee.”

Hard work doesn’t scare Drysdale. Throughout his career, he’s put in endless hours on practice areas – for the last nine years he’s been coached by Jamie Gough, the brother of former Rangers and Scotland captain Richard – around the world trying to get the best out of every aspect of his game.

He’s earned close to €6 million and takes immense pride in being on the verge of joining just six of his compatriots – Sam Torrance, Colin Montgomerie, Paul Lawrie, Gordon Brand Jnr, Stephen Gallacher and Sandy Lyle – in clocking up 500 or more appearances on the European circuit.

But it bugs Drysdale that his CV is missing the one thing that matters most – a win. He’s finished second on four occasions, most recently in the Qatar Masters just three weeks ago. In a five-hole play-off against Spaniard Jorge Campillo, the Scot hit brilliant shot after brilliant shot under the most intense pressure he’s ever faced only to eventually have his heart broken by Campillo’s putter.

“You know what, I still don’t really know what I think,” said Drysdale as he reflected on missing out on that elusive first victory in the cruellest of fashions at Education City Golf Club in Doha. “On the one hand, I was delighted to finish second after the poor golf I’d played for a year basically. But, on the other, it was a missed opportunity for that first win, which would have secured a two-year exemption.

“I’ve said for years that I’d love to win a tournament before packing it in, and that is still the main goal. Whenever I make that 500th appearance, and hopefully it will be sooner rather than later, it will be a big achievement. But the win is the more important thing. I’d hate to be packing up not having won out here.”

Drysdale, who was a 17-year-old assistant professional at Dunbar when he played as a marker alongside John Daly in the 1992 Open at Muirfield, started his European Tour career in earnest in 2002. He still remembers vividly having to withdraw from his first event, the Bell’s South African Open, after just two rounds. “I got food poisoning and I was rotten for about six days,” he recalled.

Despite being unable to get into the final seven events of the year due to his category, Drysdale held on to his card by finishing 160th on the money-list before finding himself back at the Qualifying School five times in the next six seasons. “Everyone says Qualifying School is a horrible week, but I just used to get my head down there and get on with it,” he said of his success in that marathon. “If you had a European Tour card the previous season, you were there for a reason.

“I quite enjoyed the fact that par meant something at San Roque [where the final stage was held at the time]. I’ve not been to where it is played now, but I look at the scoring and think, ‘oh, my god, it must be a slash-fest’. When guys who come off to the Qualifying School go to courses like Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Leopard Creek, they must think, ‘holy shit, this is a European Tour set up’.”

A “shocking” season left him languishing down in 274th spot on the money-list in 2007, with doubts starting to creep into his head when he could only improve to 194th the following year. “I was thinking then, ‘maybe I’m not good enough or cut out for this level’,” admitted Drysdale.

Bumping into David Downie, a former Scottish international and old friend, during an appearance in the Scottish Challenge at Macdonald Cardrona, near Peebles, proved to be the turning point in his career. “Greig Hutcheon was staying with me that week and David was on his bag,” recalled Drysdale. “We grew up playing golf together, but I’d not seen him for two or three years. He’d talked a lot to Bob Torrance and was a knowledgeable guy when it comes to a golf swing. I asked him to have a look at me on the range and straight away something clicked.

“I saw him a few times over the next month or two and, though it didn’t turn around quick enough for me to keep my card, I started to play really well and got my card back at the Qualifying School at the end of 2008. I had a nice steady start the following year and that was arguably my best season. I played in The Open at Turnberry, had a couple of chances to win and finished 58th on the money-list.”

As Drysdale keeps chiselling away at the coalface in his bid to make the breakthrough, 21-year-old Finn Sami Valimaki burst into the winners’ enclosure at just the sixth attempt when he triumphed in the Oman Masters earlier this month.

“I’ve never won, so I don’t know what it takes to get the job done other than having to get everything together game-wise,” declared Drysdale. “But some guys seem to make winning look easy. The standard gets better every year. The players get younger and they hit it further. I’ve seen a huge change the last three years. I don’t know what they are going to do about it, to be honest.”

When tournament golf is up and running again, Drysdale will get back to travelling the world. “In my first few years, you could easily play a 20-25 tournament schedule and never leave Europe,” he said. “Now it seems 50 per cent or more is outside Europe. But I love the travelling and Vicky loves the travelling. She’s travelled with me for ten years and this is her fourth season on the bag.”

Tiger Woods topped the European Tour Order of Merit in Drysdale’s first season on the circuit, while other leading lights at the time included Montgomerie, Ernie Els and Retief Goosen. But there was no hiding a sparkle in his eye when replying to being asked to pick out the best golfer he has played with.

“It has to be Rory,” he said. “He is just outstanding. I’ve played with him a few times, most recently in the third round of the 2017 South African Open. I have never played in front of so many people. It seemed as though every single person at the tournament was watching Rory for the full 18 holes. It was ridiculous. They were lined from tee to green on either side of the fairway on every hole. It was like an amphitheatre. He’s just awesome, isn’t he?”

Even winning sometimes isn’t as easy for McIlroy as people appear to think. Buoyed by that performance in Qatar, Drysdale is hoping that door will eventually open for him. “I’d take any win. I’m not fussy, believe me,” he said, smiling. “But look at Bob MacIntyre,” he added of his young compatriot, who was crowned as European Tour Rookie of the Year last season after taking the circuit by storm. “He could have won three times last year, but he didn’t. It’s not easy, but hopefully he will get there – and me, too.

“I’d have loved to have won three or four times by now, but I can’t complain. I wouldn’t change what I do for a living for anything in the world. At the same time, I’d also like to walk away from the game on my terms, so to speak. The work that goes on behind the scenes to try and be competitive out here is the stuff I won’t miss.”