Scottish golfer facing fight for DP World Tour survival 'head on' after admitting mistake

If David Law loses his DP World Tour card at the end of the season and, in fairness, time is still on his side due to a run of big events starting this week, it certainly won’t be down to a poor attitude or burying his head in the sand.

Sitting 145th in the Race to Dubai and needing to climb into the top 115 by the end of October to retain his seat at European golf’s top table for the seventh season in a row, the Aberdonian has vowed to face his predicament “head on”.

Law, who won the ISPS Handa Vic Open in his rookie year in 2019, has missed five cuts in a row to find himself in a perilous position heading into the Betfred British Masters at The Belfry and, in an exclusive chat with The Scotsman, admitted that a decision to chase length last season had led to a low point in his professional career.

David Law recently started working with new caddie Shane O'Connell after adding sports psychologist Karl Steptoe to his team in March. Picture: Octavio Passos/Getty Images.

There’s only person who can get him out the hole he’s in, though, and the two-time Scottish Amateur champion is definitely not about to shirk away from what is required from him over the next few weeks to avoid a potential return to the Challenge Tour next year.

“There’s no point in shying away from the fact I’ve not played good enough this season,” said 33-year-old Law. “It’s certainly not been through lack of effort or lack of trying, but, for one reason or another, it’s not been happening.

“Although last season I didn’t play well, I kind of knew why that was the case and I was still having some decent results. But I’ve not had a run like this of missing so many cuts for a long, long time.

“It’s quite tricky as you are trying to diagnose it all the time and trying to figure out what could be better, but the sample size isn’t big enough because I’m not playing enough, which is disappointing.”

Law pinpoints finishing a career-best 49th in the Race to Dubai two years ago as the reason why he’s fighting for survival this year while the likes of Ewen Ferguson, Connor Syme and Calum Hill are all on course to make the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

“We tried to chase distance off the tee, which, with hindsight, was the wrong thing to do, but you never make these decisions in bad faith,” he said. “You make them because, in my case, I don’t want to sit back and just keep what I am doing in the hope that things will get better.

"I am trying my best to improve and that was the way I saw me going from where I was to the next stage and, unfortunately, my iron play, which was my strength, got worse and I turned myself into a good driver of the ball and a terrible iron player.

“You know when you do these things that there are risks involved and, if I could have had my time again, I wouldn’t have done that, but it is what it is.”

A big week in the Betfred British Masters or in either the upcoming Omega European Masters, Amgen Irish Open or BMW PGA Championship and Law will jump into the safety zone and he reckons The Belfry, Crans-sur-Sierre, Royal County Down are all venues that can help bring out the best in him. At the same time, though, he is taking nothing for granted.

“I don’t think you can switch off from it,” he insisted of his position in the all-important season-long standings. “It’s not possible and, if you try to switch off from it, you dilute yourself from the situation you are in. Sometimes you need to meet it head on. That’s the sort of mindset we are in. Look, I’ve got a good group of people around me and we are all trying hard.

“There’s certainly no stone being left unturned for the remainder of the year. I think patience is the wrong word because I don’t have time for it - I can’t afford it. But you’ve just got to keep trust that you are doing the right things.

“I’ve enjoyed these upcoming tournaments and obviously the points are higher, so there is more scope to make up ground. I just feel like I need one decent week to get something going.”