Young’s final push for European spot
Danny confident ahead of Lumine showdown
Danny Young has shown a strong resilience and neversay-die attitude to edge closer to securing a European Tour card.
The Perth professional golfer this week advanced to the final stage of qualifying for the first time after a solid performance at Desert Springs Golf Club in Almeria.
Rounds of 72, 68, 68 and 71 teed-up a place in the showdown event where the top 25 scores will earn a ticket to the main tour alongside some of the world’s best.
Lumine Golf Club in Tarragona is the venue for Young’s date with destiny, but nerves won’t be an issue when the first ball is struck on Saturday.
Young said: “I’m not really one to get overly nervous. This week I felt quite good about everything and was inside the number going into the last day.
“The scoring at my venue was ridiculously good. Every day it wasn’t easy but boys were shooting six and seven under like nobody’s business.
“You had to hang tight and stick in. I shot four under on the second last day and only moved up three spots.
“In the final round I felt like I still had to go out and post a number. I played aggressively and I think that helped me big time.
“You don’t really know where you stand because there is no leaderboard to let you know where you’re at throughout the day.
“You find out when you finish and go from there. I had a rough number in my head and goal of what I wanted to get to before I teed-up on the last day.
“I came up one short of that but it was good enough to get the job done. And at this stage that is all that matters.
“This will be my first time at final stage. That was my fourth time I’d been at second stage so I finally managed to crack it.
“I missed by one last year so I’ve had to show perseverance to go back and prove that you can do it. That is pleasing.
“When I’m teeing it up I’m not really thinking about what I did last year. But it is nice to know that I’ve been able to come through it.”
The former Perth Academy student has enjoyed a nomadic few years on the road, playing on both the Alps Tour and more recently the EuroPro Tour.
He is under no illusions about how tough his final quest will be, with the Craigie Hill member Danny Young tees-up at the Lumine Golf Club determined to secure a prestigious European Tour card for next season
potential for six days of golf against more than 100 talented players.
Even at second stage of qualifying Young was in the company of wellknown names of the game, one being Simon Khan who won the BMW PGA Championship in 2010.
He added: “It’s going to be tough. There are so many good players nowadays and even at second stage I had Simon Khan at my venue.
“He has won the biggest tournament on the European Tour before. So it shows you where guys can suddenly be if they don’t back a good year up.
“Six rounds is a lot of golf but for me it’s just going to be one round at a time. If you can put yourself in a good position each day, you then see what happens.
“I would imagine you’ll need to post a six or seven under to get yourself in the mix. There will need to be a low one in there at some point, that is for sure.
“There isn’t any reason why I can’t go and have a good week and get one of the cards on offer. Everybody is there
to get one of the 25 cards. It’ll be over two courses, six days of golf.
“I’ve played one of the courses and had second stage there two years ago, so I know it fairly well.
“Everybody who has played golf from a young age wants to play at the highest stage. For us the European Tour is the highest stage on this continent.
“It’s obviously the goal and would mean a hell of a lot to make it there.
“Going home with a European Tour card would be a nice early Christmas
present.” Perth will be behind Young as he goes for glory this weekend - and that support helps spur him on.
He concluded: “I have two or three local guys that help me out.
“Playing professional golf, you can’t do it without your sponsors so it’s a massive thank you to them.
“The support at home is always good and everyone backs the local guy, whether it is me or someone in a different sport.
“There’s always people looking out for you and that is great to see.
“I’ve got my turn to try and shine.”