Lyle looking for some Dutch courage
Lyle has held a Tour card since winning the qualifying school in 1977, claiming the Order of Merit three times and 18 tournaments including the 1985 Open and 1988 Masters.
But the 45-year-old is in severe danger of losing his playing rights for next season after being knocked out of the top 40 of the Tour’s career money list last week.
The Scot was 35th on the list at the start of the year and 38th as recently as 10 days ago, but has been bumped down to 41st by Adam Scott, Ignacio Garrido and David Howell.
That is despite the fact that Garrido has won just two tournaments to Lyle’s 18 and Howell only one.
And Lyle feels the massive increase in prize money in recent years is to blame. “The system now is slightly outdated,” said Lyle, who has missed the cut in four of his last five events. It needs to be more of a points system.
“The kind of money I made in the 80s, winning 18 tournaments... and somebody who has not even won a tournament can have three years on tour and win almost as much.”
Lyle is just £10,000 behind Howell on the career money list, but with the Englishman in top form with four top 10s in his last five events, Lyle knows he has his work cut out in this week’s Dutch Open and the final counting event, the Madrid Open, in a fortnight’s time.
“I knew the last couple of tournaments would be quite vital, but that’s just the way it goes,” said Lyle, who is currently 142nd on the Order of Merit, around £30,000 outside the top 115 players who retain their card.
“I’ll just have to rely on invitations, unless I perform well these next couple of tournaments.
“The game is not too bad, it’s just a couple of holes every round making things awkward. It’s been inconsistency more than anything else, but some of the ball striking and driving off the tees has been good.
“I can only do my best, but I’m not going to lose any sleep over it. I still want to perform well but I wouldn’t go back to the qualifying school.”