Andrew Oldcorn can't

wait for his Senior

Moments to begin

FROM THE EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS WEBSITE
By MARTIN DEMPSTER
After flying the Lothians flag so admirably for 25 years on the circuit, Andrew Oldcorn reckons he's now out of his depth whenever he tees it up on the European Tour.
But the Edinburgh man is determined to keep playing at a decent level as long as he can in order for him to still be competitive when he becomes eligible for the Seniors' Tour next season.
In five events on the main circuit this term, Oldcorn, pictured above, who won the Tour's flagship event, the PGA Championship at Wentworth in 2001, has made the cut just once, breaking 70 on a single occasion in 12 rounds.
"It is pretty obvious that I'm not able to compete at that level any more," he said. "The courses are just too difficult for me and, what's more, I don't enjoy it either.
"The last two years have been hard for me mentally – it is difficult not to let the rot set in as far as that side of the game is concerned. I am so far away from the level I was capable of but I'm just nine months away from where I want to be, namely the Seniors' Tour."
Oldcorn becomes eligible when he turns 50 next March and is hoping he can do well enough in his rookie season to merit a crack at the money-spinning Champions (Seniors) Tour in America.
"It's a pity the entry age for the Seniors wasn't 45 because I would have been ready then," added the Kings Acre professional. But there was no way that I could have just stopped playing competitively at that age and just waited for my 50th birthday to come around.
"For starters, my wife wouldn't have let me sit around doing nothing and, in any case, I couldn't have been like Peter Mitchell, who stopped playing for a while and then picked things up again when he became a Senior.
"My ambition is to have a go at the Champions Tour. If I do well enough in Europe next year, I'd like to have a stab at that the following season by going to the Qualifying School."
In a bid to stop any rot setting in, Oldcorn, who lost his card for the main Tour in 2005, has grabbed every chance he's had this season, playing on the Challenge Tour, EuroPro Tour and the Tartan Tour as well.
"I'm working as hard as ever and it would be nice if I got an invite to the Johnnie Walker Championship and the Dunhill Links Championship later in the year but, those events apart, it's unlikely that I'll play on the European Tour again," he said.
"I'll probably spend the rest of the season on either the Challenge Tour, EuroPro Tour or the Tartan Tour."
Oldcorn was speaking after firing a second-round 70 to put himself in contention at the halfway stage of the £55,000 Gleneagles Scottish Championship, an event at which he finished runner-up – behind Ian Young, now the boss at the Braids Hills Golf Centre – on his debut 25 years ago.
Just three behind leader Jonathan Lomas, Oldcorn said: "I'd love to win this week and, if my approach play can improve in the final two rounds, I might have a chance because I'm driving the ball reasonably well and my putting has also been not too bad."
Uphall's Gordon Law, the winner in 1997, rekindled his hopes of regaining the title by firing a five-under-par 67 – a nine-shot improvement on his opening effort."That could have been 63 or 64 as I missed a few putts inside six feet although, having said that, I also holed a fair few," said the 44-year-old of a round in which he hardly missed a fairway.
Admitting he was still half asleep after teeing off in the first match out at 7.30am, Paul McKechnie started with three straight bogeys to find himself six-over for the tournament and in danger of making an early exit.
But the Braid Hills Golf Centre pro covered the ensuing 15 holes in six-under to card a 69 for 144. He said: "I had a big smile on my face after holing from 45 yards out of a bunker at the third."
Also on 144 were Kenny Walker and Mark Kerr, the former admitting he was off to search for a new putter after taking 38 putts in his second-round 73.
"When you putt as bad as that, you don't want to look at your putter again," said Walker.
Heather MacRae was back in the pro shop at Gullane this morning, having missed the cut on 156, but she's determined to be back on the same stage again one day and, in the meantime, is hoping to have something else to smile about next week.
"I'll be getting my PGA training first-year results and, hopefully, there will be no re-sits," she smiled.