MUM’S THE WORD FOR ASHER
Asher can’t wait to get back on tour with baby in tow
THOSE of you with young offspring will be well aware that packing up for a little venture away is broadly equivalent to the logistical palaver that Noah faced when he was herding a variety of beasts on to the bloomin’ Ark.
“We took our 16-month-old on a family trip to Center
Parcs and three cars were jam-packed,” gasped Pamela Asher of a holiday with daughter, Kirsty, which just about included everything as well as the kitchen sink and its internal plumbing. “I was thinking ‘how will we do this on Ryanair flying to a golf tournament?’.”
Asher is getting ready to return to the Ladies European Tour (LET) having stepped away for the best part of two years to start a family. The 30-year-old had originally planned to start up again in May when the circuit gets going on European soil but the widespread march of the coronavirus has left things up in the air. Whenever she does resume hostilities, though, Asher will embrace the challenge with a very different outlook since becoming a mother.
“It’s like going back to the start again,” said the former Curtis Cup player and past British Women’s Amateur Strokeplay champion. “I have a fresh head, golf feels more fun and I’m putting less pressure on myself. You go back and focus on Kirsty instead of dwelling on the six footer that lipped out or something.
I think my swing has improved since Kirsty came along too. I’ve got a better rhythm and I think that’s because the stresses and anxieties that would creep in before are not there now. I feel like I’m playing for fun and for her. It’s the way golf is supposed to be.
“Kirsty seems to be quite a good coach and has taken to the role quite quickly,” added Asher with a chuckle.
Asher, who has been a fulltime member of the LET since 2013, made a tentative return to the competitive cut-andthrust in last year’s Ladies Scottish Open and comfortably made the cut in a worldclass field. She’s not played a tour event since, due to her parental duties, but she’s relishing the opportunities that a galvanised LET schedule will present in 2020 after the circuit’s welldocumented and worrying spell in the doldrums.
“It’s quite a good time to come back,” she said of a circuit which now boasts record prize money of £16million after a merger with the LPGA Tour. “The tour has a better team in place now to get the ball rolling in terms of getting events. The proof is there to see. Hopefully they can push forward and make it a tour that you have the chance to actually make a living on.
“I’ll always love the
ANDY MURRAY has had a bumpy ride over the past couple of years, undergoing hip surgery and staging a comeback to win his first title in two years before another injury setback sidelined him at the tail-end of last year.
The former Wimbledon champion was set to make his comeback at the Miami Masters later this month, but the cancellation of the tournament due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis has put a spanner in the works.
However, former British
No.1 Tim Henman believes the delay to Murray’s comeback, which now will almost certainly not happen until the end of April at the earliest due to the six-week suspension of the ATP Tour, is nothing to be worried about.
“In the grand scheme of things, this just gives him a bit more time keep getting fitter, stronger and faster,” said the former world No.4.
“I was with Andy earlier in the week in London and watched him practice and he’s really hitting the ball well and he’s building his strength up all the time.
“The fact that things have been delayed, in the context of what he’s been through, I don’t think it’s too serious.
“He’s been out for so long, although he’s obviously had his moments where he’s been back playing, but it’s really been two-and-a-half years so if he’s got to wait another six weeks or so, I don’t think it’s the end of the world for him.
“It’s very difficult for everyone because there’s so much uncertainty but you have to take that cautious approach, so no tournaments for six weeks. It’s very sad for those events affected, the players, the fans, the sponsors and everyone else but it’s really out of everyone’s control.”
Murray underwent hip surgery in January of 2018 having cut his season short the previous year. The operation appeared to be successful, with the Dunblane man making his first comeback that summer.
However, further injury issues meant he was not seen on court for the entire first half of last year, making his
I don’t think it’s the end of the world for him