Walker will always play the numbers game as he eyes Tour graduation
It is crunch time on the Challenge Tour but you can guarantee that Euan Walker will know what is required to secure his card for the DP World Tour.
The top 45 in the rankings are preparing for the Grand Final in Majorca, beginning on 3 November and Walker will be one of them.
He is currently in 21st place, with the leading 20 after that big-money final event securing their cards for next season’s DP World Tour.
Walker is separated by just under 5,000 points from the man above him, France’s Jeong Weon Ko. But one thing you don’t have to worry about with the Kilmarnock Barassie golfer is numbers.
As a maths graduate from the University of Missouri in the United States, he is a player who wants as much information at his disposal as possible.
And with players able to carry scoring devices with them on the Challenge Tour, Euan is always keen to know where he stands.
“I love looking at it,” he told The Sunday Post. “I’ll look at the scoring device after every hole if I have it, just to evaluate my position.
“A long time ago, in the Scottish Boys Strokeplay, I tried to play without looking at the leaderboard and it was terrible.
“I was just thinking constantly and wondering how I was getting on in the tournament.
“After I went home, I wasn’t looking at the scores after rounds and it was terrible. I just really like to know where I am and how I sit. When I don’t have the device, you don’t have that option.
“Every chance I get, I want to know how I’m getting on, and what I have to do.
“I’m trying to do the best I can on every shot. That never changes. But sometimes it’s reassuring to see where you are, and what you have to do.”
Walker’s prospects of a Tour card were greatly helped by his maiden Tour win a fortnight ago at the British Challenge down at St Mellion in Cornwall.
The 27-year-old produced a sensational birdie-birdie finish to pip England’s Matthew Baldwin and South African, JC Ritchie, to the title.
It highlights a second-half of the season in which the 2019 Walker Cup player has been coming on strong with a sixth in Portugal and a third place in Austria.
However, even if Walker fails to get in through the main door to the big Tour, there will always be another chance to join Scottish contemporaries Bob MacIntyre, Ewen Ferguson, Connor Syme, Grant Forrest and Calum Hill, courtesy of Q-School.
That returns after a three-year absence due to Covid, where players will have the chance to fight for a spot over a brutal six rounds at Infinitum Golf in Tarragona, Spain.
Walker admits that the intensity of the season has gathered pace as the events have whittled down.
“The Challenge Tour is quite a friendly tour throughout most of the year,” he admitted.
“But because I’ve been involved in more final rounds this year, it’s just been a little more, not tense, but more competitive.
“There’s just been a little more grit from the players, trying to make the most of every shot. What you’re playing for now, it’s more real.
“The categories have been protected more recently, particularly on the main Tour.
“I don’t know if people see Q-School as a good thing or bad thing. But everybody’s been pushing that bit harder to get those top finishes.
“I’ve given myself a chance I never thought I was going to have in the earlier part of the season, and I just want to make the most of that opportunity.
“It was a great time to win and a great event to win, because the prize fund was slightly bigger. It was brilliant.”