Wait to get out on the course is almost over!

PEOPLE are facing another few weeks before they can play golf again and, while I’m frustrated our sport has been put in the same bracket as other outdoor sports that aren’t nearly as safe, there’s not long to go now.

Everyone is praying for that little bit of normality, having been locked down for three months. It’s a fact golf is safer than a lot of the things that are currently allowed, so I don’t know if there was a little more to the decision to categorise it in this way.

One thing is for sure, golf really boomed last year and the situation, as terrible as it is in so many ways, brought lots of new people to the game because it has so many benefits. It’s good to see the industry on the rise again, certainly, and hopefully that will continue.

The European Tour has done a fantastic job in the schedules for both last year, when it must have been so difficult to get us back playing, and this year.

It’s a serious achievement, given the number of countries we go to and the number of different nationalities playing.

At tournaments we’re in strict bubbles. We test before we travel and when we get there and then you’re restricted to the hotel and golf course, with no spectators and very few personnel there.

I’ll be honest, it’s really boring at times because you are on your own and have to entertain yourself for a lot of hours each day, killing time with Netflix, but we can’t get away from how fortunate we are to be able to keep playing.

In terms of my golf, I’m not too sure what the next few weeks have in store as my fiancée Sophie is due to give birth soon. At the moment the plan is to go to Qatar next week but it just depends how Sophie is feeling.

It’s obviously a really exciting time for us and, career-wise, it’s difficult to say how it will affect things until I’ve experienced it.

Family is number one, of course, and hopefully being a dad will allow me to maybe relax more and maybe freewheel a bit on the course.

When I look back to a year ago, since Covid first hit, I’ve made a lot of progress in my game, I’m really pleased at the work I have done technically and where I am. I was able to spend some time in the Middle East practising before the new season and missed cuts in Abu Dhabi and Dubai before finishing in 12th in Saudi.

In the first two weeks, the work I had been doing in practice just wasn’t transferring to the course. They weren’t horrendous scores but just clearly not good enough to compete.

Going into Saudi, I wasn’t really expecting a lot and found something there through a conversation with a friend at home. He gave me some ideas on the Wednesday night, I related to what he was saying, tried it on the Thursday and shot 61! I didn’t quite follow through on that but it was a decent week.

The subconscious really takes over in that situation. I was a couple under after nine holes and then had five straight birdies. When that’s happening, everything just feels great. I don’t actually remember a lot of it. You’re just focused on yourself and your process.

“I never actually thought about shooting 59, it was just each hole on its own merit.

Everyone is praying for that little bit of normality, having been locked down for three months