STRIKING IT RICH AT LAST
RICHARD BLAND admits his head is in a whirl ahead of a US PGA Championship debut this week at the ripe old age of 49.
There may be no Phil Mickelson in Tulsa to defend his title but old gold is still represented in the field courtesy of the Englishman, who became the oldest first-time winner in European Tour history at the British Masters last year.
Bland will add another remarkable late-blooming first with his tilt at the Wanamaker Trophy at Southern Hills on Thursday, having qualified through breaking into the world’s top 100.
But the doors that are belatedly opening for him – in the autumn of what had previously been a journeyman career – bring their own unexpected complications.
Bland said: “It’s hard to get a schedule and that’s something that I have never had to deal with before, because when you’re ranked 250th in the world, it doesn’t matter.
“It’s a case of, ‘This is where you’re going to play’.
“At the minute I’m sort of hanging around the world’s top 50.
“If I can be in the top 50 after the US PGA, there’s going to be a real possibility of playing at The Memorial, Jack Nicklaus’ tournament, which would be very, very special and then it’s top 60 after the PGA gets into the US Open. A lot depends on my world ranking but it’s a nice problem to have.
“When you lose your card at the age of 46, a lot of people start to write you off.
“To come back the way that I’ve come back, when I finish playing – whenever that will be – that will probably be something I’m most proud of.”
Bland still carries with him the congratulatory messages on his phone from his breakthrough title triumph, at the 478th time of asking, at The Belfry 12 months ago from, among others, Stephen
Fry, above.
“The messages that I received from social media, from people all across the globe, that’s something that I wasn’t ready for, and it was quite emotional to read some of them,” said the world No.58.
“People who were losing faith in whatever journey they were on themselves, and my win sort of helped them to re-evaluate and to keep going.
“It was a case of, ‘If he can do it, I can do it’. I hope they got there. If they haven’t, keep trying.”
The memorable experiences have come thick and fast since then, with a weekend share of the lead at the US Open last year at Torrey Pines – he eventually faded to 50th in California – and a WGC Match Play debut at the Austin Country Club in Texas in March, where he made it out of the group stages before going down to Dustin Johnson.
After the US PGA and The Open Championship at St Andrews in July there is one more highlight to come – a July wedding to his Swedish fiancee Cate.
“It will be a very special day,” said Bland.
Bland in a spin after finally making it to the big time at 49