It might look a long haul for Marc Warren to get back into the winners’ circle of big-time golf, but the player who looked like the future of Scottish golf when he won two top titles in his first two years on the European Tour believes it may only be eight rounds away.
The former Johnnie Walker Championship and Scandinavian Masters champion is targeting this week’s Scottish Hydro Challenge at the MacDonald Hotels Spey Valley near Aviemore as his launching pad and the Scottish Open up the road at Castle Stuart in two weeks as his re-entry point.
Bold talk for a player who fell off the European Tour last year and has just over £50,000 in winnings from 16 starts across the main and Challenge Tours this year, but Warren has the talent to be a top player.
He believes that his drive to succeed is the key.
Warren said, “I’ve probably gotten away from what I do best, which is having the will to win.
“All I wanted to do in the past, wherever I was playing, was give myself a chance to win, and that’s what I’ve got to get back to.
“This week is a chance to win Castle Stuart is also a chance to win.”
He added, “I feel that my game is definitely turning the corner my ball striking has improved and there is a realistic chance of me winning again soon.”Lacking atmosphereWarren’s £307,000 cheque for his 2007 Johnnie Walker victory dwarfs the £200,000 total prize fund for this week’s event at Spey Valley, and he admits the culture shock between the two tours has affected him.
He said, “I thought it would be a lot easier for me than it has been, but that has probably been the toughest aspect.
“I played three years pretty much on the Challenge Tour and coming back hasn’t been easy.”
He added, “Events like are fine as it feels like a proper tournament, but some of places you go to are lacking a bit of atmosphere.
“When you are pulling your own trolley and stuff like that it is so hard to get into tournament mode.
“It can be difficult when you are caught between the two tours, but I’ve just got to go out and play well wherever I happen to be.”Saltman’s returnThe other main tour Scot here is Elliott Saltman, who was first reserve for the BMW International in Germany but committed to the Scottish Hydro Challenge with the guarantee that he could play.
Saltman, after the controversy of his three-month ban after being found guilty of cheating on the Challenge Tour last year, makes a rare return to the junior circuit and intends to impress by winning.
The 28-year-old said, “I could have gone over to Germany but the chances are I wasn’t going to get in, and this is a big event and at least I know I’m playing.”
He feels that his 12th-place finish in Wales two weeks ago, including two holes-in-one, was the breakthrough he’s been waiting for.
Saltman said, “I need to play and my attitude has changed since Wales before I was turning up looking to see how I’d do, now I’m looking to win.
“The holes-in-one have helped too, now I reach a par three and am looking to go for the flag every time, and it’s helping.”Lee on highWarren and Saltman may have the strongest pedigree of the 24 Scots in the field, but the one in the best form might be Craig Lee, second on the Challenge Tour rankings and fresh from his biggest career cheque at the Saint-Omer Open last week.
The Stirling player said, “I’m coming in on a high, although the form varies from round to round.
“We have had two Scottish winners over the last two years here, and the fact that we are out in force again this week means that there is a realistic chance that we will have another.”
He added, “We have all got the talent, know the course well enough and are used to the elements so it does play into our hands a little bit.”
The elements may play a role this week with the course very damp after weekend rain.
After two successful years at Aviemore, Scottish Hydro and MacDonald Hotels have agreed a new three-year deal to sponsor and host the event until 2014.