Michael Stewart looking for lift after Open high left him 'feeling a bit down'

As that great Scottish phrase goes, it’s effectively been back to auld clothes and cold porridge for Michael Stewart since his dream week in the 151st Open at Royal Liverpool.

Michael Stewart acknowledges the crowd on the 18th green during the third round of the 151st Open at Royal Liverpool last month. Picture: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images.

From rubbing shoulders with the game’s top players on his major debut at Hoylake, where he was sitting in the top 15 at the halfway stage before ending up just outside the top 50, it’s been back to the coalface on the Challenge Tour.

Missed cuts in both the Irish Challenge and British Challenge delivered a double disappointment for the Ayrshireman in the wake of the best week of his career, but he’s hoping a home gig this week in the Farmfoods Scottish Challenge presented by The R&A at Newmachar can put a spring back in his step for the remainder of the season.

“After The Open, I felt a bit down and it was quite hard to pick myself back up,” said Stewart. “I was disappointed in myself about that as I didn’t feel I had the right to feel that way as the Challenge Tour is where I play my golf.”

Even though he produced a brilliant performance over the first three days in particular on the Wirral after winning one of the final qualifiers at Dundonald Links, the 33-year-old wasn’t entirely comfortable with his game for most of the week in the season’s final major.

“Though it certainly wasn’t poor, the week of The Open my game wasn’t the way I’d have liked it to have been and that continued in the Irish Challenge,” he added.

“At times as a golfer, you have to go through a period where you know you are having to do some work on your swing and I just need to continue doing that rather than thinking I’ve got a golf tournament to play in and think too much about that, even though you are still obviously trying to shoot the best score you can.

“You have to go through a period of feeling uncomfortable and it could be for one tournament or it could be four. But it’s about having the belief that you will come out on the other side in a better position and, as long as that’s the case, I’ll be happy.”

In a game at Turnberry on Monday with long-time friend and fellow tour professional Rhys Enoch, the former Scottish Amateur saw the positive signs he was looking for. “It feels as though my game is definitely there and back on track to where it was earlier in the year, so hopefully I can have a good week at Newmachar,” said Stewart.

Having played well on the Hawskhill Course in the past, the former Scottish Amateur champion is looking to improve on currently sitting 81st in the Challenge Tour’s Road to Mallorca Rankings, with the top 20 at the end of the season securing DP World Tour cards.

“I’m nowhere near the position I’d like to be in, but it just takes one week,” said Stewart. “Alan [McCloskey, his coach] has been very good in helping me keep a perspective as sometimes you feel you are running out of time and it has to be now. But that’s not necessarily the case.

“All it takes is one good week at the right time to change your season and this week is a great opportunity for not only me but so many of the other Scottish guys (25 in total). They can potentially secure playing rights on the Challenge Tour for the rest of the season or even get into the following week.”