I won’t stop believing

People sometimes ask me if I dob’t feel jealous when I see  Rory McIlroy and my old friends and rivals tearing up the world of golf. My answer is that I wouldn’t change anything — this is what I want to do. I’m not one to look back and think where I could be and where I was. I look at where I am now. Today I’m part of Team Scottish Hydro and I’m playing on the Challenge Tour.

Lloyd+Saltman+Scottish+Hydro+Challenge+Day+7t4WLXvOtgEx (1)Back when I was an amateur, Rory was always younger than us but he was playing at our level which was very impressive. But there were many guys who went head-to-head with him down the stretch at major amateur events at that time and beat him. I played him in the last group of the Lytham Trophy, the Irish Open, those occasions I came out on top.

It wasn’t like he was a Tiger Woods of amateur golf. He wasn’t untouchable but he did hit shots that you thought ‘woah, that’s pretty impressive.’ He was always fantastically confident.

Rory’s rise is a dream story and what all players want but the difference in golf is always just fractions.Guys like Rory, Richie (Ramsay), all those Walker Cup players have done really well and it’s nice to see them do it but I know, and all of us know, that when we are on the top of our game we can compete at that level and that’s exciting.

A wee decision here or there can be the difference between winning a tournament or getting that result and the exemption to missing your card and being back on the Challenge Tour.

It’s all fractions in this game but that’s the exciting thing about it. There are opportunities around the corner everywhere you go.

Rory is a dream story and it’s what we all wanted to happen to us. He gave himself a year and he wanted to be top of the world. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t and it can change in weeks.”

I’m still just 27. You look at someone like Stevie Gallacher who has come good after a few struggles. You know when you play like that you can do it, it’s just about getting the consistency. I know I can win and that has 
to be the focus.

I’d never say ‘I’ll give myself another year’ or whatever. You just have to keep going. As soon as you stop believing in what you are doing, then it’s time to give it up.

I don’t think there’s an age or a time to do it. If you work and train hard you know you can get to where you want to.