DAVID LYNN SHOCKED BY PLACE IN NEXT YEAR'S MASTERS
FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE
PGA Championship’s runner-up David Lynn is amazed his shock performance means he has qualified for the Masters next year and could gain a place in the European team at the Ryder Cup next month.
The Stoke golfer carded a 68 on Sunday night to climb up the leaderboard to second and finish eight shots behind winner Rory McIlroy.
His performance was even more remarkable as it was just his first ever major championship in the USA and only the second major he has appeared in.
It earned him over £557,000 - three times his previous biggest cheque in a 16-year European Tour career - a debut at Augusta and a return to the PGA next year.
"The Masters is just a dream come true, obviously - amazing," the 38-year-old said.
"Seeing Augusta as many times as I have, it's like I know the place and I've never even been there.
The second-placed finish lifts him from 28th to 13th on the Ryder Cup standings and a strong showing at the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles next week could see him move into the top 10.
Lynn turned professional in 1995 after winning the 1994 Greek Amateur Open Championship the year previous.
He has only ever won one tournament on the European Tour out of the 371 he has competed in, the Dutch Open in 2004.
He had only just squeezed into the PGA Championships with a world ranking of 98, with the top 100 qualifying. On Monday he rose to world number 40.
"I knew that the top 100 in the world rankings qualifies and I've missed out about four times by a couple of spots,” Lynn said.
"It was coming down to the D-day again and I thought I'm going to miss out here again by one or two spots. I chose not to play in Austria back home to try to sort of protect my ranking and managed to stay inside the top 100.
"Then the phone call came the Tuesday the week before, so I flew out."
Having a lowly ranking has often meant Lynn has passed up on the opportunity to qualify for majors thinking he did not belong there.
"I actually am a bit stubborn sometimes," he said. "I believe if you don't qualify to play in a tournament outright that you shouldn't be playing in it.
"Hopefully this will open up the gates for me to get in automatically. I think if I go to a 36-hole qualifier to qualify for an event I feel like I half don't belong there.
"This week I felt that I'm in the top 100 in the world - that's the criteria for getting in - so I belong here."
Lynn turned professional in 1995 after winning the 1994 Greek Amateur Open Championship the year previous.
He has only ever won one tournament on the European Tour out of the 371 he has competed in, the Dutch Open in 2004.
He had only just squeezed into the PGA Championships with a world ranking of 98, with the top 100 qualifying. On Monday he rose to world number 40.
"I knew that the top 100 in the world rankings qualifies and I've missed out about four times by a couple of spots,” Lynn said.
"It was coming down to the D-day again and I thought I'm going to miss out here again by one or two spots. I chose not to play in Austria back home to try to sort of protect my ranking and managed to stay inside the top 100.
"Then the phone call came the Tuesday the week before, so I flew out."
Having a lowly ranking has often meant Lynn has passed up on the opportunity to qualify for majors thinking he did not belong there.
"I actually am a bit stubborn sometimes," he said. "I believe if you don't qualify to play in a tournament outright that you shouldn't be playing in it.
"Hopefully this will open up the gates for me to get in automatically. I think if I go to a 36-hole qualifier to qualify for an event I feel like I half don't belong there.
"This week I felt that I'm in the top 100 in the world - that's the criteria for getting in - so I belong here."
Labels: PRO GOLF
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Monday, August 13, 2012
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