MACAULAY GOING FOR BROKE IN ROMA CHALLENGE

By MICHAEL GIBBONS
Deputy Chief Press Officer, European Tour
In need of at least a top three finish to qualify for the Challenge Tour Grand Final in two weeks’ time, Callum Macaulay will bring nothing but aggression to the Olgiata Golf Club at this week’s Roma Golf Challenge.

The Scot from Tulliallan, currently 61st in the Challenge Tour Rankings, needs to earn at least €10,000 this week to burst into the all-important top 45 who will then move forward to the Grand Final in search of one of the 20 available European Tour cards on offer through the final Rankings.

“The only thing that I am going for this week is absolutely everything,” said Macaulay, pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency.

“The way I see it I have nothing to lose: my Challenge Tour card for next year is secure and I am in the second stage of Tour School so the worst thing that can happen this week is that I miss the cut.

“Nothing will change with regard to next year or Tour School if that happens but if I go for everything and it goes my way then everything will change for the better. I have nothing to lose so there is no pressure on me as far as I am concerned.
“I haven’t had a great year but things have been getting better and better as it has gone on and I have been doing a lot of work recently on the mental approach to the game, working on trying to play more instinctively rather than over-thinking everything.
“This week will be a good test of that – it will be the first time this season where I feel that I can just go out and attack the golf course from the first tee shot and that is what I want to do. That is how I played as an amateur when I would shoot a lot of very low scores. There have been signs of that lately so I am just going to go for it this week and see what happens.”
As the penultimate event of the 2011 Challenge Tour season, almost every player in the field has something to play for, including the six of the seven other Scots in the field.
Craig Lee, currently 11th in the Rankings, is looking to push into the top ten in order to secure the best possible category on Tour next year while Chris Doak, in 34th spot, is hoping to continue the fine form he displayed in finishing fourth in Lyon last week as he bids to join Lee in the elite top 20 at the conclusion of the Grand Final.
While Raymond Russell will continue his return from long-term injury in Rome, the rest of the Challenge Tour’s Scottish contingent – Gavin Dear, Jack Doherty, Jamie McLeary and Elliot Saltman – are all looking for the big result that will guarantee a Challenge Tor card for next season, as well as place at Stage Two of the European Tour Qualifying School.