Oldcorn turns back the clock with rare outing

ANDREW Oldcorn and Scott Drummond, two former PGA champions, make rare appearances on the European Tour today when they bolster the Scottish contingent in the Andalucian Open in Malaga.

Oldcorn, who last played on the main circuit at the end of July, has earned his place in the field as a former winner of the event and will be using the week to help him prepare for the Seniors Tour. The Edinburgh-based player turns 50 next Wednesday.

Drummond, who won the European Tour's flagship event at Wentworth in 2004 – three years after Oldcorn – has found starts difficult to come by since he had to go back to the Qualifying School at the end of last season to regain his card.

His only appearance so far this year was in the Joburg Open in January but, with the Tour having now arrived in Europe after four weeks in South Africa, three in the Middle East, two in America and one in India, Malaysia and Morocco, the 35-year-old will be hoping to get a few more chances to make his mark over the coming weeks.

David Drysdale will be hoping to have shaken off a bug he picked up in Morocco so that he can take his place in the field at the Parador course, where Marc Warren, Steven O'Hara, Stephen Gallacher, Alastair Forsyth, Andrew Coltart, Gary Orr, Peter Whiteford, Andrew McArthur, Paul Lawrie and Richie Ramsay are also in action.

Ramsay, the South African Open champion, has been paired with Rhys Davies, a former Walker Cup team-mate who joined the Scot as a first-time European winner by claiming the title in Morocco last weekend.

Big-hitting Spaniard Alvaro Quiros is the highest-ranked player in the field at 33rd in the world. The 27-year-old will tee-off in the Masters in two weeks' time, trying to erase memories of last year at Augusta, when he finished 85th out of 96 following rounds of 78 and 75.

"I was hitting the ball bad and the course was a completely different thing to what I was expecting. It was a tough week. I have to be honest – it was a really frustrating tournament," said Quiros.

"You need to know all the tricks. Augusta changes from Wednesday to Thursday, something that is impossible to believe. Now I have an idea...

I said that if I kept hitting the ball the same I wouldn't come back, but I am becoming a better player."

Finishing sixth at the WGC-CA Championship in Miami two weeks ago was a boost for his confidence and another step towards a Ryder Cup debut in October. "That is the most important thing this year and I will try to fight until the last tournament," he said.