David Drysdale has reasons to be cheerful

FROM THE SCOTSMAN.SPORT.COM WEBSITE
By MARTIN DEMPSTER
Before anyone starts getting the wrong idea, David Drysdale definitely doesn't lack bottle. You don't bounce back from some of the knocks he has taken in his career without having the stomach for a fight.
He's now gone agonisingly close to recording a maiden European Tour win on four occasions in just over a year, the latest flirtation with success coming when he finished third in the Avantha Masters in India on Sunday after leading with seven holes to go.
Don't be fooled, though, into thinking that Drysdale is one of those players who becomes scared about the prospect of winning, as nothing could be further from the truth. It was only natural that he felt disappointed yesterday as he made the long journey home from New Delhi to Cockburnspath in Berwickshire via Dubai.
But, at the same time, the 34-year-old had cause to feel upbeat about the rest of his season. Scotland's leading light in the Race to Dubai last season, few players can have found it more difficult to adapt to the rule regarding club grooves that was introduced at the start of the year than Drysdale.
And, when you've played with the same trusty set of irons for five years, it can't be easy suddenly having a new set of tools thrust into your hands. It's been suggested by some people that the likes of Drysdale should have ensured they were better prepared for something they had known was going to happen for some time, but what was he supposed to do?
At a time when he was trying to stay in the top 60 in that Race to Dubai and therefore secure a place in the season-ending Dubai World Championship, is someone seriously saying he should have been practising with a new set of clubs?
Due to the fact his 2009 campaign crept into December as he tried to secure a first appearance in a WGC event through the Sunshine Tour, the first chance Drysdale got to look at his new clubs was when he arrived home from South Africa just before Christmas.
He hadn't had much chance to practise with them before he was back in action in the Joburg Open and, by the time he arrived in India early last week after stops in Abu Dhabi, Oatar and Dubai, the Scot had moved on to his third set of the year.
In truth, Drysdale surprised himself in New Delhi as he almost added to the successes of Martin Laird and Richie Ramsay in recent months before "a couple of poor shots and a few poorish putts" on the back nine saw him come up just short.
Last season, he finished second in the Andalucia Open and third in both the Joburg Open and the Madrid Masters. These are experiences that may knock the confidence of some, but not Drysdale. They'll help him develop into a better player over the next few seasons and, at the same time, make him all the more determined to secure that breakthrough.
As the European Tour prepares itself for a quiet spell by its manic standards, Drysdale's next chance is likely to come in Malaysia early next month before he heads for the Iberian Peninsula for events in Spain and Portugal, followed by a trip back out to the Far East to play in China and South Korea.
He'll keep knocking at that door and, before too long, there's an excellent chance it will finally open for him. One thing for sure is that he won't shy away from other opportunities like the one that he created in India.
Drysdale, partly due to all his visits to the Tour School, has become a tough cookie on a golf course. He's certainly not a bottle merchant.
+The full article above appears in The Scotsman newspaper today.