Amid all the acrimony, there is at least some irony. In the wake of the proposed pact that currently sees golf’s establishment, led by the PGA Tour, creating a partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund/LIV Golf and the DP World Tour, at least one player is benefiting.

Last week Laurie Canter played in the DP World Tour’s ISPS Handa World Invitational. This week the 33-year-old Englishman is teeing it up in the St Andrews Bay Championship, an Asian Tour International Series event, at the Fairmont course just outside the Home of Golf. And next month he hopes to be part of LIV Golf’s event at Rich Harvest Farms outside of Chicago.

Given all that we have seen in professional golf at the highest level over the last 18 months, Canter’s situation represents an extraordinary state of affairs, the irony created by his fall in status on the former European Tour.

Having skipped a few events on the 2022 schedule as he pursued play on the LIV Golf circuit, the former South African and Spanish Amateur champion finished 130th on the Race to Dubai. Outside the all-exempt category (those finishing 1-117 on the DP World Tour rankings), Canter fell into the tour’s Category 18, made up of those within positions 118-133. From there, his opportunities to play on his home tour were clearly more limited. But that also meant, in weeks when he was outside the starting line-up on the DP World Tour, he was free to play elsewhere.

“I’ll be at the final three LIV events, probably in a reserve capacity,” Canter told Golf Digest. “I may be the only DP World Tour member who can do that, because of my category 18 status. I won’t be subject to further fines or suspensions by the DP World Tour as long as that category does not improve. [Canter is currently No. 125 on this year’s Race to Dubai points list having played five events, including a third-place showing at the Alfred Dunhill Championship last December.]

“Technically, I do need a release for each LIV event or Asian Tour event, but they won’t stop me playing as long as I am not eligible for a DP World Tour event in those weeks. Looking at the upcoming schedule, it’s unlikely I’ll make it into any. So I’ve been lucky in a perverse way.”

Laurie Canter, shown playing in LIV Golf’s event at The Greenbrier, has competed in 11 LIV tournaments in 2023, his best finish at 15th-place in Orlando in March. Eakin Howard

Still, Canter is at pains to point out he has never stopped being a DP World Tour member. Unlike the likes of his fellow LIV players Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and Henrik Stenson, he has not resigned his membership of the Wentworth-based organisation.

“Everything you read suggests that I have left the tour,” says Canter, three times a runner-up in DP World Tour events, including the 2021 BMW PGA Championship where he lost by a shot to American Billy Horschel. “I never have. And I have never wanted to leave. I’ll only stop being a member when the system spits me out one day. That’s what is meant to happen. I’ll get to a point where I’ll be replaced by those who are better and younger and fitter.

“It has actually never entered my head to resign,” he continues. “But the likes of Lee, Sergio, Henrik and Ian are in a different place. The extent of the bad feeling between the DP World Tour and them is a shame. They have contributed so much. Martin Kaymer, too. For them to be made to feel outcasts is not right. The argument that LIV is a threat to the tour doesn’t add up for me. So I understand that those guys are sick and tired of it. If I was in their position, I think I’d feel the same. But being at odds with the tour didn’t sit well with me. So I was fine with the outcome of the disciplinary process.”

Specifically, Canter served a seven-week suspension that ended at the conclusion of the Scottish Open in July. He has also paid any and all fines levied, a fact confirmed by a DP World Tour spokesman: “All sanctions imposed have been met.”

All in all, then, Canter has come out ahead on all fronts, except his on-going DP World Tour status. Able to play through the appeals and arbitration process that was decided in the tour’s favour earlier this year, his enforced absence from his home circuit has been short. Around five months, to be more specific.

Canter played in the Magical Kenya Open in early March, then was next seen (apart from his T-17 finish at the Open Championship) last week in Northern Ireland. All in all, not that much of a sacrifice. So it is no surprise to hear he has no regrets over his actions.

“Two things helped me make the decision to join LIV,” he says. “I had just played in my first major in America, the 2022 PGA. It was an incredible experience. I had just broken into the top 100 in the world. I made the cut at Southern Hills and wanted to taste more of that. Then the opportunity to play LIV came up. It was around the time that the drop in World Ranking points was coming on the DP World Tour. I sat down with my management team and modelled how the ranking system would change over the next 36 months. It was shocking. Any chance of me climbing the rankings while playing in Europe was going to be hugely diminished.”

Looking back now, Canter’s positive view on his LIV experience confirms his initial optimism.

“I find this part difficult,” he says. “My wife tells me that when I talk about LIV it sounds like I am apologising. But I’m not. It has been an amazing experience. At first, I thought it was an opportunity to play a couple of events. But it turned into two seasons. I got the chance to play with heroes of mine, often on the same team. I got to play practice rounds with them and pick their brains. Plus, going to LIV was an opportunity to play for a lot of money. I earned $5.5 million in just over a year, which is insane. I’m proud of what that means for my family. So no regrets. LIV really was a great opportunity for me.”

On a personal level, Canter has also emerged relatively unscathed from all that has gone on over the last 18 months or so.

“I haven’t lost any real friends over this, and I don’t expect to do so,” he says. “If I had lost one over where I have decided to play golf, then that person was never a mate to start with. I think you can disagree with people and still get along. It’s a job. All I’ve done is take an opportunity. I would have supported anyone’s right to do the same, even if I had chosen not to do it. This isn’t a secure job at the end of the day. I don’t get why people on all sides haven’t until now gone into a room and talked about it. As soon as everyone started to talk some common ground was found. Hopefully, others will learn from that.”

On that at least, everyone is surely agreed.

The post He’s paid his fine and served his suspension. But DP World Tour pro Canter has found a way to keep playing LIV Golf appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

After finishing his final round Sunday at LIV Golf Andalucía, Laurie Canter flew back home to England with his wife, who had attended the tournament in Spain. They walked through the front door at 1 a.m. Monday.

A few hours later, their daughter was dropped off by his wife’s parents, the babysitters for last week. That allowed the young family to spend an hour together having breakfast. Canter then jumped in his car and made the four-hour drive to Wales, which was hosting one of the four Open Championship qualifiers.

After a short lunch, Canter headed to Royal Porthcawl for prep work. The wind was so severe, though, that he decided not to play a practice round, instead opting to walk the course that he last played 10 years ago as a junior. Thirty-six holes awaited him and his competitors on Tuesday, with five spots at stake.

It was a good day. Canter shot 69 in the morning, then 65 – the afternoon low score in the field – to finish at 8 under, four strokes better than the next closest qualifier. It was the third time Canter had gone through qualifying to earn an Open spot, and he’ll make his fourth career start in golf’s oldest major July 20-23 at Royal Liverpool.

He then drove back home and arrived at Centurion Club on Wednesday morning, refocused on this week’s LIV Golf London as part of the England-centric Majesticks GC that will receive the most support – and perhaps the highest expectations – this week as the home favourites. The good news is the course is only about 30 minutes from his house. Even so …

“It’s been a long three days,” Canter said.

Totally worth it, of course. Such is the life of a 33-year-old professional golfer who is trying to maximize his opportunities and find his footing during this groundbreaking moment in the sport. And like many of the players who’ve been associated with LIV Golf since the inaugural event at Centurion 13 months ago, it’s been a wild ride.

Canter was part of the original Majesticks team co-captained by Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood that finished in third place a year ago. But when Henrik Stenson joined the team in the third event at Bedminster, Canter was the odd man out, and he transferred to Cleeks GC. Difficult to argue with the Majesticks’ decision, given that Stenson immediately supplied the team with its lone trophy, winning the individual title in his debut.

Still, it was an indication that LIV Golf’s team format and its potential player movement had tapped into previously unexplored territory in the sport.

Canter’s results improved after joining Cleeks, as he earned points in his first three starts. Entering the final regular-season tournament in Jeddah, he ranked 26th in points, just one point shy of the top 24 players guaranteed spots in the 2023 LIV Golf League.

Unfortunately for Canter, he did not acquire any points in Jeddah, finishing 30th. His future in LIV Golf was not secure, and at that point, options on some of the other tours were not available to him.

Making it even tougher was that LIV Golf’s tiebreaking system in regard to points did not benefit him. Ties on a tournament’s individual leaderboard are broken via final-round results for points purposes, and Canter’s Sunday rounds were not as productive as needed.

Take LIV Golf Chicago last year. Canter finished in a four-way tie for 8th on the traditional leaderboard but because he shot the highest final-round score among the tied players, his points finish was 11th, which is worth 8 points. Had he shot the best final-round score, he would’ve earned 12 points.

Same thing happened in the following tournament in Bangkok. Canter tied for 10th on the traditional leaderboard but shot the higher final-round score and was 11th in points. The difference between 10th and 11th is two points.

“A couple of my top 10s, I ended up getting low ranking points and miss top 24 by a point,” Canter said. “You think, ‘Is that fair?’ But ultimately, you’ve got to wrap your head around it. That’s the system. If you don’t like it, go and play somewhere else. And I like it.”

Despite the disappointment of not finishing in the top 24, Canter was determined to stay positive and contribute to the Cleeks at the season-ending Team Championship. In the first-day Quarterfinals, he defeated Jediah Morgan 1 up in their singles match, helping the Cleeks advance despite not having injured captain Martin Kaymer available. The Cleeks were eliminated the next day by the eventual champion 4Aces GC, but Canter again held up his end, beating Patrick Reed 2 and 1 in singles.

After that, Canter wasn’t sure when he’d next tee it up on LIV Golf.

As it turned out, Kaymer’s rehabilitation from wrist surgery opened up a spot in the Cleeks’ 2023 lineup, and so Canter was called up from the reserve list. He played the first three events, claiming points in Orlando with a 15th place.

Kaymer returned – but then another spot opened up, this time on the Majesticks, with Sam Horsfield knocked out indefinitely due to hip surgery. The captains quickly brought back their former teammate, and Canter will likely finish out the season while Horsfield rehabs. Funny how things worked out.

“Look, I’ve been very fortunate this year,” Canter said. “It’s not nice what happened to Sam, but it’s opened up an opportunity for me. Lee, Henrik and Ian were fantastic with me. They came to me when they knew Sam was going to be out for a bit and said, ‘We’d like to put our faith in you as a reserve. We’re going to pick you for every week, and we want to make you feel like part of the team. We recognize that would be important for you if we were in your shoes.’

“They didn’t have to do that. There’s guys like Andy Ogletree pulling up trees on the International Series and they could easily have said they’re going with him. But I think they recognized that I played a lot in Europe and that I was kind of developing and they could see my potential to be a top player and they thought maybe they could help me get there. Every week that I’m with them, I’m obviously grateful for.”

On Friday, Canter will join Westwood and Poulter in the all-Majesticks group that tees off on the 18th hole. They’ll likely be the most popular trio on the course. As such, they’ll push hard to provide their home fans something worth cheering about in a season that thus far has been more productive for the team off the course than on it.

Individually, Canter is again chasing a top 24 spot to secure a spot for 2024. He’s currently 40th in points but has been trending upward with each start since joining the Majesticks – 48th in Adelaide, 29th in Singapore, 23rd in Tulsa, 21st in DC and 19th last week in Andalucía.

Add in Tuesday’s successful qualifying for the Open, and Canter enters Friday’s round at Centurion with plenty of momentum. On the long drive home Tuesday night, he had plenty of time to analyze the state of his game – and appreciate the last 13 months.

“Going there where the field just isn’t what I’ve been playing in, I thought, ‘I’m playing pretty good golf here,’” Canter said. “Just maybe a little run of holes out of being in contention in one of these tournaments. It just brought home how strong and how good everyone is out here – and in my own head, realize I’m doing pretty well.n I’m playing pretty good golf and being in this environment has improved my game. That’s kind of what I suspected but until you go back into a different pond, you don’t really know.”

Canter knows he’s fortunate to be on a team with European stars Westwood, Poulter and Stenson, with the established trio providing him with a priceless golf education. Younger players on other teams are getting the same experience.

“Just seeing the superstars and the seasoned pros – how they prepare, what they do, the shots they’re hitting – if you came out here for a year, you’re going to get better,” Canter said. “If you got worse, you’d have to be an absolute fathead. You’d have to really not be taking anything in or not opening your eyes.

“It’s been an amazing golfing experience for someone trying to move their game on, to have access that you’d never get on another tour.”

Canter would love for it to continue next year. Five regular-season tournaments remain to secure a spot. If the upward trend continues, he should be in good shape. Going low on Sundays would obviously help too.

The post It’s been a wild and ‘amazing’ 13 months for Majesticks’ Canter appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Kaymer was forced to withdraw during the final regular-season event last year at LIV Golf Jeddah due to lingering issues with his left wrist. He then missed the Miami Team Championship, although he remained in charge of the team in a non-playing capacity. He underwent surgery in mid-November.

“It’s four months now and the problem is the tissue takes a long time to heal,” Kaymer said Wednesday. “So I’m putting right now. Little bit of chipping here and there. But I still have pain once in a while. I have some good days and some not so good days. I guess that’s what rehab is all about.

“Hopefully I can start hitting golf balls in 2-3 weeks. That’s the goal.”

Canter played the final six events of the 2022 LIV Golf Invitational Series as a member of the Cleeks. The 33-year-old Englishman was one of the top performers at the Miami Team Championship, winning both his quarter-final and semi-final singles matches, the latter against 4 Aces GC star Patrick Reed.

“It was a given that he was on the team (as the replacement),” Kaymer said. “We talked to LIV and they were fine with it. He’s always going to be on the Cleeks team.”

Canter will join Graeme McDowell, Richard Bland and Bernd Wiesberger on this week’s roster.

Kaymer will remain at Mayakoba. “I can do my rehab here and my putting,” Kaymer said. “It’s the right thing to be here and support my team.”

The post Cleeks captain Martin Kaymer out of LIV Golf Mayakoba, as Laurie Canter steps in appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By John Huggan
VIRGINIA WATER, England — It was wild. It was wonderful. And it was ultimately ironic. As the endless intricacies of the European Ryder Cup qualification played out in the background, the BMW PGA Championship was claimed by an American, Billy Horschel. He won it well, too. The wedge Horschel hit to Wentworth’s par-5 18th green finished so close he didn’t need to take a proper stance before tapping-in. It was the Floridian’s 24th birdie of the week, closing out a seven-under 65 and took him to 19-under 269, just good enough to beat a trio of runners-up, Laurie Canter, Jamie Donaldson and Kiradech Aphibarnrat.

Horschel is the first American to win the European Tour’s most prestigious title since Arnold Palmer in 1975. His winning smile was matched only by those on the faces of Bernd Wiesberger and Lee Westwood. The Austrian and the Englishman clinched the last two automatic qualifying spots on the Old World side that will defend the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits in two weeks.

But that is for the future. This was a day belonging to Horschel, whose distant devotion to London soccer team West Ham United guaranteed him plenty of encouragement from the sizeable galleries roaming the Burma Road course.

“The crowds are absolutely unbelievable here, and they supported me when I came over in 2019 and they supported me this year,” he said. “This is a huge event. In my mind, it’s equivalent to the Players Championship. I would love to win that one. But I have this one under my belt. I’m very happy.”

Still, that Horschel should play so well over the iconic West course at Wentworth—and move up to second place on the European Tour’s season-long Race to Dubai standings—is no real surprise. Two years ago, Horschel made the trip across the Atlantic to the European Tour’s flagship event and was rewarded with a T-4 finish. Two rounds of 65 were the highlights of a 15-under-par 273 that left him alongside compatriot Patrick Reed, five shots behind the winner, former Masters champion Danny Willett.

The approach shot that sealed Horschel’s win ?#BMWPGA | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/1TwjbBIiRz

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) September 12, 2021

There was one discordant note. On the back of a mediocre run of form after winning the WGC-Dell Match Play title earlier in March, Horschel wasn’t expecting a call from U.S. Ryder Cup skipper Steve Stricker to tell him he had made the team. But he didn’t get a call to tell him he wasn’t in either. Which was disappointing.

“It sucks not making the team,” Horschel said. “I didn’t play consistent enough and well enough after I won the Match Play to warrant a pick or to get enough points to be an automatic selection. But I was a little gutted I didn’t get a call this week. I didn’t think the call was going to say I made the team, but I was a little gutted that I didn’t get a call to say, ‘You didn’t make the team.’ I thought I would at least get that. There was a little more added motivation this week after that.”

As for the men in second place, all three will leave much encouraged by their performances. Aphibarnrat, once a mainstay in the world’s top-50, arrived in England on the back of a horrendous run of form. In 12 PGA Tour starts this year, the 32-year-old missed the cut in nine and had a high finish of T-37. His play in Europe wasn’t much better. In five events before this week his best effort was T-39. So a week bookended by eight-under-par 64s was a glimpse of how things used to be.

Donaldson was just as upbeat. The 45-year-old Welshman, who clinched the winning point for Europe in the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles, has endured some tough times since the clear highlight of his career. But recent signs have been promising—he was third in last month’s Cazoo Classic, a trend he more than continued with his best finish since the 2020 South African Open.

“Am I disappointed?” Donaldson asked. “No. I played really well for four days. There’s not many shots, really, that I would want to play again. I’ve had a great week. I really fancied my chances today. I really felt great going out. But I’ve shot six-under. I can’t do much more, so quite happy.”

As for Canter, this was confirmation that a first victory on the European Tour can only be a matter of time. Many are the 31-year-old’s admirers.

“There is no questioning his talent,” says fellow pro Richard Bland. “He is just a really good player.”

“Laurie is awfully good,” agrees Eddie Pepperell. “For years he has looked like a quality player. It has taken him a bit longer to break through because he lacked a little bit of belief. He doubted he is as good as other people think he is. He just needed to get some evidence of that, which he has now.”

Still, for all those encouraging words, there was obvious disappointment in Canter after coming up one-shot short. The chip he thinned through the putting surface at the 71st hole will clearly live with him for a while.

“It was a good day,” he said. “I’ve been working so hard on my chipping. But it let me down. I was trying to play the right shot, hopefully stiff it and win the tournament. But I executed poorly. At the moment, I am disappointed. Probably more disappointed than I imagined after coming second. I would love to have the opportunity to win a huge event.”

A common refrain. But this victory belonged to another: Billy Horschel.

The post Billy Horschel pulls off a stunning win at the BMW PGA, makes history in the process appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
An Englishman with proven desert pedigree, effortless power and a game as sharp as it’s ever been so early in the season. A Scot high on confidence, striking it as sweetly as ever and learning to accept when he occasionally doesn’t.

There are no guarantees either Paul Casey or Robert MacIntyre will win the 32nd OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic but the way the duo stole the narrative on moving day at Emirates Golf Club, it will be a surprise if one of them doesn’t hoist the fabled Dallah.

Casey leads the way, a sensational birdie-eagle finish capping an equal best of the week 64 that he was reluctant to call flawless but kind of did anyway. Few would dare argue as the 14-time European Tour winner eased to 15-under, a shot clear of MacIntyre who snared an eagle of his own early on Saturday before recovering from a potential title-ending blip to sign for a 67. The Scottish lefty described his third round as “eventful”, others tenacious and ultimately terrific.

At 13-under, South African Brandon Stone shapes as the most likely plot spoiler on Sunday although 2017 champion Sergio Garcia and Englishman Laurie Canter won’t have given up yet at five adrift.

But as statements of intent go, Casey’s bogey-free romp and MacIntyre’s gritty third round fightback are hard to ignore.

READ MORE: Sunday’s OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic ‘Daily News’ is FREE here

“Same as always: Go for it. I’m not going to hang about,” MacIntyre said of his final round game-plan. “I’m going to put it all on the line whether it’s good or bad. Hopefully it’s going to be good and I’ve just got to enjoy it again. It’s another experience that I want to get, you know what I mean. It’s something that not many people get the chance at my age to do, and it’s just…I’ll give it everything I’ve got.”

A second European Tour title to go with his Cyprus Showdown breakthrough 10 weeks ago will take all of MacIntyre’s aggression and newfound acceptance of inevitable mis-hits.

“Yeah, I feel like I’m starting to appreciate that there’s nothing I can do once [the ball] has left the club,” he said “That’s something I struggled with last year. But this year, it’s been drilled into me by many people: Accept what comes. Just control what you can control. And it’s working well.”

Equally, a 15th European Tour title sure sounds sweet to Casey, twice a winner in Abu Dhabi and the champion of the Volvo Golf Championship when it was held in Bahrain in 2011.

“Behind you, I can see the very impressive list of winners, those photos of them behind the 18th green. It’s cool. Iconic trophy. Iconic event. Dubai has given so much to golf, especially European Tour, so yeah, that would be very, very cool,” Casey said.

Like MacIntyre, Casey has new clubs in his bag, a driver and 3-wood. His game feels sharper than normal to the courtesy of less range time and more off-season money games with the likes of Jon Rahm and Chez Reavie back home in Arizona.

RELATED: Caddie Confidential: Helen Storey takes us inside the ropes with Lee Westwood

“Like I’ve said many times it seems so far this week, I’m enjoying my golf, and that was an example of it today,” Casey continued.

“Today, I mean, really good. You can never say flawless, can you, because there’s always errors but it was very controlled. Really enjoyable round of golf; challenging yet at the same time with a little bit of wind here and there, I mean, it’s good stuff. “

It got better as it went on as well. After committing the cardinal sin of missing the fairway after taking an iron off the 17th tee, and then leaving his wedged approach short, Casey promptly chipped in for an unlikely birdie. A 296-yard drive and 3-iron flushed from 238-yards to 10 feet then set up the closing eagle, Saturday’s pivotal play.

“Yeah, it was the perfect club. It’s a glorious finish. I said to Johnny [caddie John McLaren] on the fairway there, that was a cool-looking shot when Monty hit a driver off the deck without the skyline you get now, and it might be cooler now with the skyline. It’s one of the iconic shots in golf, isn’t it? To have a perfect 3-iron in there and finish off with an eagle is pretty cool.”

After his opening 67 Thursday, Casey seem bemused to learn that his T-8 start to the year at the American Express didn’t warrant any Ryder Cup points as the PGA Tour event was played opposite Abu Dhabi, one of the European Tour’s gold-star events. Winning the ‘Major of the Middle East’ would be swift retort, just as a victory for MacIntyre would advance the former MENA Tour winner into the world’s top 50 with all those major championship sand WGC privileges. Whatever transpires, both men have become much larger targets on Padraig Harrington’s radar for the 43rd Ryder Cup matches at Whistling Straits. But that is for September. For now, enjoy the final round of January. It shapes as a doozy, perhaps even a Ryder Cup warm-up match of sorts. If the drama is anything like Saturday, the Desert Classic is poised to celebrate another very worthy British champion.

READ MORE:
OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic ‘Daily News’ preview edition
OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic ‘Daily News’ round 1 edition

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The post Paul Casey and Robert MacIntyre primed for Dallah doozy appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Prep for the final round of the 32nd OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic with our bumper 20-page ODDC ‘Daily News’ featuring all the reaction from ‘Moving Day’ at Emirates Golf Club, plus the draw for Sunday.

Scroll through the ISSUU link below or download Sunday’s edition to your favourite device to read offline.

This was a historic OMEGA Dubai Dubai Classic after all, the 30th edition held on the Majlis (after two editions at sister-club Dubai Creek in 1999 and 2000) as the UAE celebrates its Golden Jubilee.

The post Sunday’s OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic ‘Daily News’ is FREE here appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joy Chakravarty
Ever since the European Tour made its comeback following the COVID-19 shutdown, players have reacted differently to the loneliness of the strict bio-bubble and the emptiness on the golf courses.

Stars such as Rory McIlroy and Paul Casey blamed the silence and the lack of energy from the lack of crowds for their struggles towards the latter half of the 2020 season. But one person who completely embraced the ‘new normal’ and thrived is England’s Laurie Canter.

The 31-year-old from Bath was ranked 579th in the world when action resumed on with the UK Swing in the last week of July. In the six months since then, Canter has climbed to 131st in the world. In that period, he finished runner-up twice – in Portugal and Italy – and was in contention at the DP World Tour Championship before finishing tied fifth.

RELATED: Paul Casey and Robert MacIntyre primed for Dallah doozy

Canter once again hauled himself into the limelight at the OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic, where a four-under par 68 in Saturday’s third round took him to tied fourth place at 10-under par total.

So, what did Canter do differently during the shutdown that has helped him hit such a rich vein of form?

“I get asked that question a lot, but honestly, I don’t have a very good answer,” said Canter, who is making his debut in the ‘Major of the Middle East’ this week.

“It’s not like I practised any differently, or changed something. I do a few things differently now, like spending less time on the range and playing the golf course more.

“Every player will have a different formula that they’d like to go back to but for me, it is investing a bit more time in learning the golf course and developing shots rather than improving my technique, which I was spending a lot of time on without much success.”

READ MORE: Sunday’s OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic ‘Daily News’ is FREE here

It was a masterclass from Canter for the first 11 holes as he seemed to have birdie chances in each one of them but only managed convert on five occasions.  He then made three bogeys coming in.

“It’s just that I don’t feel very comfortable on the back nine of this golf course. I struggle with my tee shots on the 12th, 13th and 14th holes (all severe dogleg left). I am more of a fade player.

“I also struggled with the pace of the greens. But it was good to sign off with a birdie,” said Canter, who three-putted the 15th for a bogey after making a birdie on the 14th that would have gone 15-20 feet past the hole if it had not caught just enough of the cup to drop.

The Englishman said there was no frustration with all his near-misses and hopes his time will come soon.

“I am not frustrated now. I guess you can only find out at the end of your career what that moment meant at that time. It really has all been very good learning and all this will hopefully, somewhere down the line, stand me in good
stead.”

READ MORE:
OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic ‘Daily News’ preview edition
OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic ‘Daily News’ round 1 edition

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The post Late bloomer Laurie Canter is at it again at Emirates G.C. appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By John Huggan
They started the closing 18 holes of the 77th Italian Open tied for the lead on 19 under par. And they were both level par for the final round when they came to the 72nd tee, still ahead of the chasing pack. So nothing had changed between Englishmen Ross McGowan and Laurie Canter, you might suppose.

Suppose again. This was a day of golf at the Chervò Club just outside Rome in which everything happened. And then some, as McGowan, who last won a European Tour event, the 2009 Madrid Masters, 11 years and 15 days earlier, finally finished first for a second time.

Consider this. By the time he reached the 7th tee, McGowan already had everything from an eagle to a double bogey on his card. And by the time the leading pair reached the turn in one-over-par 37, they had been caught by Germany’s Sebastian Heisele and South Africa’s Dean Burmester.

But only briefly. Birdies at the first two holes of the back nine took Canter clear.

But only briefly (2). By the 16th tee, McGowan had tied Canter again at 19 under, leading by just one shot from former Ryder Cup player Nicolas Colsaerts. A host of others were piled up two and three strokes back.

McGowan’s tee shot on the par-4 16th was, by his own admission, “horrendous,” the ball finishing way left of its intended target and in a bunker on the par-3 17th. From there, the 38-year-old found more sand, this time by the green on the hole he was supposed to be playing. And from there he holed out for birdie. Despite playing the hole immaculately for par, Canter was suddenly one behind.

Wow. @RossMcGowan ?

After a nervy day, he takes the lead in style with two holes to play.#ItalianOpen pic.twitter.com/XvpCibrjot

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) October 25, 2020

Still it wasn’t over. Canter’s tee shot to the short 17th finished eight feet from the flag, the ensuing birdie setting-up a fascinating climax, especially as Colsaerts was soon to be in the clubhouse on 19 under. Both protagonists required a birdie to claim victory on the 574-yard par 5. And it was McGowan who made it, again in a characteristically convoluted fashion.

After another dreadful tee-shot into the right rough, McGowan, the former English Amateur champion, laid-up short of the water fronting the distant green, then wedged to maybe 15 feet. In went what proved to be the decisive putt, Canter failing to get up-and-down for the matching birdie.

For the second time in a month, following the Portugal Masters, Canter had to settle for second place. Which was deserving of sympathy. After taking the lead with an opening round of 12-under 60, the 30-year-old was never out of first until McGowan made that “ridiculous” birdie at the 70th hole.

Warren Little
Laurie Canter started the Italian Open with a 12-under 60 on Thursday, but fell one shot shy come Sunday.

Not surprisingly, McGowan was more than a little emotional in the aftermath of his hard-earned victory. So far removed from the best season of his career (he almost made the 2010 European Ryder cup side after also finishing second at the 2009 DP World Tour Championship in Dubai), the seven-time Q-school attendee was almost speechless standing by the 18th green.

“I can’t believe it,” said McGowan, who in his previous 13 starts had finished no better than T-42 with five missed cuts. “I’m still trying to gather my words really. I hit the ball terrible today, but the putter kept me in it. My emotions were all over the place. After the double bogey on the fifth [where, after many extra waggles on the tee betrayed his uncertainty, his 3-iron found water left of the green] I felt like I had to birdie the [par-5] sixth. So to make eagle there was a big boost. That got things underway even if I was still hitting it all over the place.”

That was certainly true on the 16th, en route to what was surely the most unlikely birdie of McGowan’s closing 71.

“The tee shot on 16 was a shocker,” he said. “And the second shot wasn’t much better. But when I holed from the sand that gave me a bit of belief. To roll the putt in on 18 was magical, too. I knew Laurie and I were close pretty much all day, but I was expecting someone to come bursting through and shoot 23 or 24 under. But it never happened, which is a surprise. The pins today were pretty easy if you found the fairways. Unfortunately, I didn’t find many, which made it difficult.”

But not impossible.

The post After a topsy-turvy 11 years, Al Hamra-attached Ross McGowan finally has a second European Tour title to savour appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.