Doors begin to open for Higgins
A share of second place in the Italian Open in Turin on Sunday earned him a career-high cheque for €130,240 and sent him from 163rd place to 111th on the European Tour’s Race to Dubai order of merit with a total of €205,287. In turn, that left him just one spot outside the number who qualify for a full card in 2014 and just €4,940 behind the player immediately ahead of him, Italian Lorenzo Gagli.
It also meant he had earned a place in the Portugal Masters on October 10-13 and the ideal opportunity to move into the top 110. However, there was even better news yesterday when he received a telephone call from the European Tour enquiring if he was available to accept an invitation to play in this week’s lucrative $5m Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews.
He quickly confirmed and a few hours later received another call to confirm his place. Just when it looked as if he would have to go through the second stage of the qualifying process without any guarantee of even getting to the final Tour School, he is now on the brink of avoiding that dreaded exercise altogether and in position to earn some serious money. In addition to St Andrews and Portugal, he also plans to play in the Perth International in Western Australia next month.
“While I definitely feel I deserve the chance in the Dunhill Links, I am grateful for the opportunity,” he said last night. “I’ve only played in it on one occasion and didn’t do very well but obviously links golf should be very much in my favour having learned the tricks of the trade at Waterville.”
Even though he had endured a disappointing season for the most part, Higgins arrived in Turin last week in a hopeful and reasonably confident frame of mind. He had picked up a cheque for around €20,000 in Wales and followed that with another encouraging four rounds in Holland, even though admitting to slight disappointment.
“It was a linksy kind of course that suited me,” he said. However, his entire attitude changed once he laid eyes on the Turin layout.
“I knew it would suit me and that this was my opportunity,” he said. “It was a course that suited straight drivers and good iron players. I went out in the first round and played lovely golf. I shot five under and it was much the same on the second day when I was three under.
“Two things then happened on the third day that kind of went against me. The decision was taken to play the ball as it lay and that was a mistake. And now, of course, I was in contention and there was added pressure, television cameras and noisy crowds and so on. I didn’t play great but, if you like, I got away with it, birdied the last for a 73, one over, and I was happy enough because I still had confidence in my game.”
As it happened, Higgins went out in the fifth to last match on Sunday and the crowds were with the leaders and no longer a source of nuisance. On top of that, his ball striking was back to where he wanted it to be.
“I played beautiful golf and was very proud of myself,” he said. “I had 12 quiet holes before television and the rest took too much notice and at that stage I was four under for the round. I was watching the leaderboards and felt if I could finish the remaining six in level par that I had a great chance of a play-off because the last three especially were very difficult.
“I missed a short putt for par on the 227-yard 16th after putting my tee shot in a bunker, and made par at 17. I was again in sand off the tee at 18 but hit a great recovery onto the green and went all out for the putt. After all, it’s not often you’re in position to play-off for a tournament.
“I struck it perfectly and in it went and that was the most rewarding moment for me, to know I could do it when everything was at stake. I wasn’t to know that Julien Quesne, the guy who beat me by one, would sink a 70-foot putt from off the green for birdie at 17 and get another birdie on 18 to keep me out of a play-off. But there was nothing I could do about that and so was very happy at the way I had coped.”
Those golfing gods still owe Higgins a few more favours.
They could do a lot worse than come up with another big finish at the Home of Golf on Sunday.
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