EUROPEAN CHALLENGE TOUR PREVIEW

REPORT FROM NEIL AHERN, European Challenge Tour Press Officer

O’Hara hoping to boost confidence in Norway

Steven O’Hara will be hoping to continue the kind of form which earned him his best finish of The European Tour season two weeks ago when he plays the Norwegian Challenge on the Challenge Tour this week.

The 32 year old claimed a tied 18^th place finish at the Lyoness Open powered by Greenfinity despite bogeying three of the last four holes.

While he couldn’t build on that momentum on The European Tour, O’Hara believes it may be a blessing in disguise as he looks to earn a first career win on the European circuit in just his second Challenge Tour appearance of the season.

“I had a good week in Austria,” said the Motherwell man. “It was a disappointing finish but I played well so I'm just looking forward to getting going. I'm feeling quite confident and I've been hitting the ball well in practice so I'm looking forward to the week.

“It’s been a disappointing year. I've been hitting the ball well but my chipping and putting hasn’t been good. If I can just finish a tournament off at the weekend I’ll be ok and I’m coming down a level this week but in a way it’s a good thing because I feel like I can compete for the title so I hope to get some confidence from that.

“Hopefully I can play well in the next few weeks and push myself up the Challenge Tour Rankings. That would give me a boost so, like any tournament, my goal is to get a win. If I do well I think I’ll probably stick with the Challenge Tour for the rest of the year.

“Austria was the best finish I've had on The European Tour this year and if I had parred the last four holes I would’ve been sixth I think. It’s a confidence boost though and I'm playing well enough so it’s about confidence.”

Other Scotsmen in the field include Chris Doak, who also had a good week at the Lyoness Open powered by Greenfinity, picking up his best result on The European Tour with a tied sixth finish, Alastair Forsyth and Lloyd Saltman.

There are plenty of stars present with former Ryder Cup player Oliver Wilson present, as well as European Tour winners Nick Dougherty, José Filipe Lima and Ross McGowan.

Other notable names in the field for the €175,000 event include Challenge Tour Rankings leader Gary Lockerbie, Frenchman Gary Stal, who has won two Challenge Tour titles this season, and Austrian Florian Praegant, who lost out to Andrea Pavan in a play-off for this title at Hauger Golf Club last year.