The only British amateur to make the cut at the Masters is preaching caution to Bradley Neil as the Perthshire teenager launches his bid to play all four rounds at Augusta today.
Peter McEvoy was a double Amateur champion and made the cut at the Masters in 1978, still the only Briton to do it, although Irishman Joe Carr did play all four rounds when there was no cut in the tournament.
McEvoy, who was brought up in Greenock, stayed an amateur but has become the elder statesman of the unpaid game and mentor of several young stars coming through the ranks including Rory McIlroy and most recently Matt Fitzpatrick, who had successfully made the change to professional in the past year.
McEvoy’s been involved with Bradley in his current role as selector for the Great Britain and Ireland Boys team but he counsels caution with the 19-year-old’s reported plans to turn professional in the next few months, with rumours rife at Augusta that leading management companies are circling to sign him.
“Bradley has played well, and he is a good player, and I believe he has a chance when he turns pro but the trouble with doing it right now is whether he is on the front foot at the moment,” said McEvoy.
“You should turn pro when you’re on the front foot and things are going well for you, and not do what so many people do and turn pro when things are going a bit poorly for them; they turn pro when they can’t make it as an amateur.
“I think they get it in their mind that the amateur game doesn’t suit them anymore, but to be a really good pro you have to be a dominant amateur, the best. Rory, Tiger, Nick Faldo, Sandy Lyle, as they turn pro nobody was even questioning whether they were the best players.”
McEvoy believes Bradley’s form has slipped a little and wants to see him doing well for a period of weeks before he makes the change.
“If he’d turned pro immediately after the amateur I’d have said he was on the front foot at that point,” he said. “Is he too young at 19? I think that’s very young to be chucked in with experienced old pros.
“History is littered with good young players who have gone at the wrong time, lost their confidence, lost their form.
“He does seem such a confident lad and he has got a game, but I would just like to see some form. I wouldn’t like to see him turning pro when he is not quite there.
“I would be a bit more thoughtful about the timing, and I wouldn’t do a knee jerk reaction.”
McEvoy would like Bradley to stay amateur and play for GB&I in the Walker Cup in September, but understands if that’s not his decision.
“Walker Cup, that’s a big part of my life,” he said. “I think the Walker Cup is a lifetime experience and my advice would be to play, but I can understand when you’re mixing with pros, they don’t regard the Walker Cup now.”
As for the Masters, part of McEvoy would like to see his record remain intact.
“I’m not sure I want Bradley to do well in the Masters,” he joked. “I was concerned last year when Matt Fitzpatrick needed a birdie at the last to make the cut and just missed his putt, it’s pretty bad form when you jump out our chair and punch the air!”