Dougherty no slouch on the course

Nick Dougherty awoke from a 17-and-a-half hour sleep in time to claim a share of the lead in the Scandic Carlsberg Scandinavian Masters in Malmo.

Dougherty carded a first round 67 at Barseback to join former Ryder Cup duo Andrew Coltart and David Gilford at the top of the leaderboard, one ahead of Korean teenager Kevin Na, Kiwi Stephen Scahill and Holland’s Maarten Lafeber.

It was the 21-year-old’s best round since he was diagnosed as suffering from glandular fever in May, an illness which has contributed to his already prodigious sleeping abilities.

“I am a walking mattress anyway,” joked Dougherty, a protégé of six-time major winner Nick Faldo. “Every time I get in a car I fall asleep.

“We got in the hotel at 3:30pm on Wednesday afternoon and I woke up at 9am on Thursday morning. That’s not normal but it’s the best illness I’ve ever had because I do love my sleep!”

The illness has had a serious effect on Dougherty’s season however, with the former Walker Cup star ignoring doctor’s orders to take a complete break from the game as he tries to keep his card for next season.

“The doctor said don’t play but I have to, my career is too important to think I’ll just forget this year,” added Dougherty, who made 12 cuts in a row on the tour at the start of this season but missed six out of the next eight after the illness was diagnosed.

“The doctor said you have to be at home doing nothing and I can’t do that.”

He has promised to cut back his schedule once he does enough to make sure of retaining his playing privileges for next year, around another £30,000 should be enough, but admits he will find it difficult to keep that promise with lofty ambitions to fulfil.

“My dad would want me not to play at all but I don’t think I could do that,” added last year’s rookie of the year, who played 36 tournaments worldwide in 2002.

“I do think about the Ryder Cup. As badly as I’ve been playing, I’m 115th on the Order of Merit this year, I could still break into the top 20 this year.

“I’ve got the game to win a couple of tournaments, it’s about having the right approach with a better technique, which I’ve got, and by the time the qualifying period starts in Switzerland next month hopefully I’ve got the game going again and I will be a contender.”

So far Dougherty’s best finish has been a distant second to Adam Scott in the Qatar Masters in his rookie season, with a third place just two behind winner Stephen Leaney in the German Masters convincing him he should be winning tournaments by now.

“I’ve backed off myself a bit now, I’ve been putting so much pressure on myself after a reasonably good year last year,” he admitted.

“I automatically came out and presumed I should be able to win now.

“I put so much pressure on myself to do it, I got by at the start by making a lot of cuts but it was taking me too long I thought and I started playing awful.

“My mental approach would go to pot, it was all getting on top of me, I didn’t enjoy playing that much and then I found out in May I had glandular fever which was making me tired and you get a bit irritable when you’re tired. It all added up to me trying too hard.”

Trying too hard is something Coltart is also familiar with, but the former Ryder Cup player is attempting a less analytical approach after starting working with Colin Montgomerie’s coach Denis Pugh.

“I try to hit it as quick as possible before you engage the brain,” said Coltart, who fired seven birdies and two bogeys to establish a new course record for the altered layout at Barseback, venue for the Solheim Cup later this year.

“I’m still standing over the ball a bit longer than I like but I feel more comfortable and hitting the ball a bit further gives you a bit more confidence.”

Coltart’s theory was put to the ultimate test after being forced to wait for seven minutes before his third shot to the ninth, his closing hole.

But after hitting a poor approach to 40 feet, he holed the putt after digging out a new putter for the week and putting while wearing a glove for the first time since he was a child.

Korea’s Na is just 19 and travels everywhere with his parents Yong – also his caddie – and Annie, but the California-based youngster already has an impressive record.

After starting golf at the age of nine when his family moved from Korea to America, Na went on to become the top-ranked junior golfer in the United States, winning more than 100 titles.

He missed the last year of high school to turn professional at 17, is coached by Butch Harmon and won his first Asian PGA Tour title in the Volvo Masters last year.