Raymond Russell: A Mountain to Climb

IT'S BEEN almost four years now since Raymond Russell teed-up in a European Tour event. In August 2006 he was leading a cold, wet and windy KLM Open after 30 holes when play was halted. One day later he had 24 holes to complete and it was too much. Exacerbated by the unseasonably low temperatures, the shoulder injury he had been carrying for some months made it impossible for him to perform at the requisite level.

"When I was done the pain was terrible," he recalls. "It was then that I knew something drastic had to be done. I was kidding myself until then. I couldn't practise as much as I wanted. I couldn't work on my swing like I wanted. So I had to stop."

Three months later, after a period of rest proved only that doing nothing was doing nothing for either his physical problem or his mental well-being, the 1996 Cannes Open winner underwent surgery that would keep him out of golf until the following July.

Since then, the now 37-year-old has struggled away in relative obscurity, playing a mixture of lower-profile events on the European Challenge Tour, the Tartan Tour, the EuroPro Tour and, last year, the mostly Alps Tour, which is based mostly in France, Italy and Austria. And 2010 promises to be more of the same, all as a prelude to what the native of Prestonpans in East Lothian hopes will be a return to the full European circuit by 2012.

"I'm in a results-based industry and my results haven't been good enough," he says with a disarming realism devoid of self-pity. "I played solidly enough in some Alps events last year – I was second in one – but when I stepped up to the Challenge Tour (one rung down from the European Tour) I didn't take advantage of the opportunities.

"I'm a realist. Golf isn't due me a living. You have to earn everything you get. The guys on the European Tour work hard and play well. I have to do that too. So there is no point in me moaning about where I am right now. I just have to get on with it and play better.

"Any pride I have in my career on the European Tour (he finished fourth in the 1998 Open Championship) has to be left in the locker room. I'm not saying it's easy to be struggling the way I am. But I have two choices: I can either let it bother me and whine about how I should be higher up the ladder, or accept where I am and set targets to get me back to where I would rather be."

But for now at least, the Alps Tour is where Russell is. And he isn't complaining.

"It's a good place to play," insists the former World Cup and Dunhill Cup player. "Covering mainly France, Italy, Austria and Switzerland, it is mostly populated by young lads making their way. And there are a few, like me, who have lost rankings on bigger circuits. They are well-run events that provide a stepping-stone and training ground for younger guys with potential to play at a higher level. They get decent crowds and the prize funds average maybe ?50,000, with the winner picking up about ?6,000. So winning is like making a cut in a European Tour event. And if you finish in the top-five on the money list you get a ranking on the next year's Challenge Tour.

"That's the way back for me. I want to get back onto the Challenge Tour, then the European Tour. The target is to be there by 2012, before I'm 40. I'll be 38 in July. So time is short. Besides, I'm tired of excuses. I had the operation on my shoulder in November 2006. I've had plenty of time for my game to come on."

As for the shoulder that caused all the trouble in the first place, it is unlikely that Russell will ever again be 100 per cent in that area. The operation for what turned out to be a "subachromial decompression" – "every time I moved my shoulder it was like a car going over a speed bump" – was too invasive for a complete recovery ever to be possible. But excuses have never been part of the Russell repertoire. "My shoulder is fine," he insists. "It gives me no problems. It is as good as it can be. I work on keeping it flexible and that's all I can do."

Still, at this stage of a life spent mostly at the top end of a highly competitive profession, it isn't the physical aspect of the game that presents the biggest challenge. For a nearly 40-year-old man, especially one who for more than a decade tasted the sweet fruit available to those with the talent to sit at the game's top table, the mental side of this perennially infuriating sport is the severest test. Happily, however – much to the amazement of his close friend, former Ryder Cup player David Howell – Russell has maintained his desire to play at a time when it would be easier for him to walk away.

"I still enjoy it," he says with a smile. "I see this as a challenge. I still enjoy practising and playing. And I still feel like I can improve. Although results tell their own story, performance is important too. I'm focusing on that – my ball striking, my putting, my chipping – so that the results will take care of themselves. One leads to the other.

"My putting isn't what it used to be. What was my strength has become the weakest part of my game. Part of that is just me getting older. I always had a long, slow stroke, one that everyone seemed to admire. But I remember my old coach Bob Torrance telling me not to make it too slow. He was right, too. But I fell into that trap."

So he's making all the right noises. Let's hope only as a prelude to making some putts.