The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
New era begins for Bradley
Blairgowrie star begins life as full Tour member in Hong Kong today
Life as a European Tour member gets under way for Bradley Neil in Hong Kong today.
The Blairgowrie golfer, who secured his playing rights on a dramatic last day of the Challenge Tour season a couple of weeks ago, tees it up in the first tournament of the 2018 season.
The 21-year-old former Amateur champion started off as 11th reserve but got his place confirmed at the weekend. His tee off is 12.35pm local time, in a three-ball with Aaron Rai and Woon man Wong.
After Hong Kong, Neil plays in the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, where he is set to be joined by Fife’s Connor Syme, before the pair then play the Joburg Open.
Neil’s season will be a mixture of inked in dates and ‘wait and sees’.
He said: “There are going to be some events, the likes of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, for instance, that I might find myself waiting to get into tournaments. But, once we hit mainland Europe, I should be okay in terms of getting regular starts.
“There have been some changes to categories and hopefully getting into events like the BMW at Wentworth, Irish Open and, of course, Scottish Open will be confirmed a lot quicker than they have been for players in my position in the past. When I do get in, I have to take my chance.”
David Drysdale is the only other Scot in the field this week.
Meanwhile, just four days after winning the Race to Dubai, Tommy Fleetwood returns to the place where his successful bid to become European No 1 began at the UBS Hong Kong Open.
Fleetwood finished third at Fanling 12 months ago, won in Abu Dhabi on his next start and also claimed victory in the French Open on his way to finishing just 58,821 points ahead of Justin Rose.
Former winner Rose and Sergio Garcia, who finished fourth in the Race to Dubai after fellow Spaniard Jon Rahm won the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, have also made the journey from Dubai to Hong Kong for the first event of the new term.
“I found it amazing that I started the season here last year, 12 months ago, and then you were watching the last shot be played in the Race to Dubai to decide what happened,” said Fleetwood.
“Even though it’s the new season we’re carrying on (playing) tournaments; this is the fifth week away now but we’ll keep working hard and keep doing the same things.
“When we do get chance to sit down, we’ll have a look at what was good in 2017 and what could be improved on.”