‘It’s special to be back’ says returning Belfry champion Bland
RICHARD BLAND expects to have tears in his eyes when he begins the defence of his Betfred British Masters title and 500th DP World Tour event today.
Bland defeated Guido Migliozzi in a play-off at The Belfry 12 months ago to win for the first time at the 478th attempt, the 49-year-old having previously had to regain his card via the Challenge Tour in 2019.
The win gave Bland a two-year exemption and ensured he would be able to achieve his goal of playing 500 events, a feat which will be achieved this week after some careful planning of his schedule.
“It’s very special to be back here,” Bland said. “What went on 12 months ago was obviously a dream come true, something I had worked for for 20 years.
“I knew this week would be very close to my 500th event so I kind of tweaked it around a little bit and withdrew from the first event in Spain last month to make it fall this week. That makes it that even more special and something I’m very, very proud of.
“When you lose your card at the age of 46 a lot of people are writing you off, so to come back the way that I’ve come back, when I finish playing, that will probably be something I’m most proud of.
“It took a lot of hard work. But I guess it’s made it that much more special to be doing this when, at my age, I probably shouldn’t. So yeah, I’m certainly enjoying it.
“I came back here in October to do the Sky documentary (about the win). I can still remember pretty much every shot. Certainly the back nine, most of the last day.
“This place now is somewhere that will always be very, very close to my heart. How I’ll feel on the first tee Thursday morning, not too sure. Probably be a tear in the eye, I would think.”
■ Rory McIlroy will draw on the memories of the best golf of his life as he defends his Wells Fargo Championship title.
With the regular venue of Quail Hollow hosting the Presidents Cup later this year, the tournament is taking place at TPC Potomac in Maryland, a move which would not appear to McIlroy’s advantage.
However, the course is just two miles from Congressional Country Club, where McIlroy won the 2011 US Open by eight shots to claim his first major title.
“Any time you can defend a title it’s a nice thing to do,” said McIlroy, who celebrated his 33rd birthday on Wednesday. “Obviously my success at this tournament’s been at Quail Hollow and not here.
“I’ve never played here before, never seen the venue, (but) as a replacement for Quail Hollow, it’s a pretty nice one.
“From what I’ve seen the last couple days, I really like it. It’s just a solid golf course. You can’t really fake it around here. You’ve got to hit the ball really well, the green complexes are tricky, pretty small targets.”