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Raymie Burns' bid to get his
European Tour career back on track took a major blow this week
when smashed his right wrist in a fall.
Burns, 28, was in California
to practice when he crashed down the stairs at a friend's house,
knocked himself unconscious and woke up in an ambulance.
"I'm lucky to be alive,"
said Burns. "I'm so annoyed about this. I was just going
down a flight of stairs in my socks and I slipped on the Mexican
paving. I went head over heels down about eight steps and the
next thing I knew I was in an ambulance on the way to hospital."
Fortunately, the Ulsterman was found by a friend, who also happens
to be a fireman but he now faces a six-month layoff and
will have to give up his dream of regaining the European Tour
card he lost in 1998.
"I'm fuming about what
has happened to me but t could have been a lot worse and really
it puts golf and everything else in perspective," he said.
After clinching his ticket
to the second stage of the European Tour qualifying school with
ease in September and playing well in the Smurfit Irish Professional
Tournament at Castlerock, Burns was looking forward to the second
stage of the Tour School in Spain in a fortnight's time.
Now back in Dublin where he
is attached to Newlands GC, Burns said: "I was really playing
well but there's no point in thinking about that now. I couldn't
care less about the tour school now. My wrist is broken. What
can I do about it?"
"Luckily one of the lads
who was staying there is a fireman and he looked after me when
I fell. I had gone out to California to practice at a place near
LA called Manhattan Beach and then this happens. I'm not in the
best of moods right now but you have to be thankful that it wasn't
worse."
The temperamental 28-yearold
from Banbridge has been touted as one of the great talents of
Irish golf, winning all five Irish Boys titles in 1990 before
going on take Senior honours.
The winner of the East of Ireland
title in 1992 when he also made the Eisenhower Trophy team
- and 1993, Burns went on to earn Senior International caps and
make the 1993 Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup side before
turning professional.
Although he failed to earn
his card the 1993 Tour School, the Ulsterman lived up to his
billing as one of the European Tour's brightest young stars with
a fabulous performance on the Challenge Tour in 1994.
In a whirlwind season the 20
year old won in Italy and Norway, notching seven other top ten
finishes to head the Challenge Tour ranking with earnings of
£43,000 and clinch his ticket to the main tour.
It all seemed to come effortlessly
to the youngster and in 1995 he began his career by finishing
eighth in the Dubai Desert Classic and picking up a cheque for
£10,100.
Tied for 12th in the Benson
and Hedges at seventh in the BMW International Open, Burns finished
just inside the top 100 that season, rising to 81st in the list
in 1996 before his game began to desert him.
Erratic putting eroded his
confidence and in 1998 he lost his card after making just eight
cuts and finishing no higher that tied 29th in the Portuguese
Open.
After failing to win back his
card at the 1998 tour school, it got worse for Burns in 1999
when he made no cuts at all in four European Tour and seven Challenge
Tour events.
Having failed to progress in
Qualifying in 1999 or 2000, Burns has preferred opt out of the
European Challenge tour and concentrate on getting his PGA Diploma
at Newlands where he has been attached for the past two years.
"It's better to play in
pro-ams a pick up a grand that throw somebody's money away on
that Challenge Tour and earn small money for finishing third,"
said Burns. "I wouldn't be bothered throwing good money
away on the Challenge Tour and I've just been concentrating on
getting myself right. I'd lost a lot of weight and I was hitting
the ball very well before this happened working with my coach
Don Patterson, my coach for the last 18 years.
"This is an easy business
if your game is good enough. The problem is having the confidence
to go out and play to your ability. I feel I was ready to do
that but I'll have to wait for another year now."
+++++
Big-hitting Liam Higgins needs
a big finish to his European Seniors Tour season so he can enjoy
the winter break.
The Corkman is 59th on the
list after his worst ever season with just 21,481 euros in the
kitty.
Said 59-year-old Higgins: "This
game doesn't get an easier. I'd love to match my age before the
year is over and really enjoy the break."
+++++
Denis O'Sullivan's chances
of topping the Senior Tour Order of Merit look slim with just
one event remaining after this weekend's SSL International Matchplay
championship.
"I really wanted to win
the money title this year but I'm happy to have won twice,"
he beamed. O'Sullivan trails money leader Senior British Open
winner Ian Stanley by almost £200,000 in the Seniors Tour
Order of Merit.
+++++
Amateur champion Michael Hoey
is finding the build up to his professional career really frustrating.
"I can't get into any
events as an amateur so it's tough," he admitted. Hoey did
play in the Dunhill Links championship last week and got lots
of advice from top pros Paul McGinley and Ronan Rafferty.
"I played two practice
rounds with Paul and Ronan gave me lots of pointers too. I'm
going to play my last match with Shandon Park when we defend
the European Club Championship in Rome next month.
"I'll head to South Africa
after Christmas to play in a few events that are co-sanctioned
by the European Tour before I play in the Masters."
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© Brian Keogh 2001
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