CRAIG LEE has been burning the candle at both ends as he strives to secure his Tour card. This week's British Masters represents the eighth of 10 events in succession and the Scot says he is starting to feel the strain.
Lee arrived at Woburn for the first British Masters on the Tour in seven years lying 122nd on the Race to Dubai money list and 11 places shy of retaining full Tour membership for a fourth year running.
In monetary terms, the Stirling golfer is £24,720 short and that translates to a top-30 finish this week.
“This is going to be my eighth week on the spin and that’s a lot of golf especially when you get to my age but then there is a lot to play for," he said. “Ideally, I was going to take a week off somewhere down the line but then I was never going to take a week off now until the job is done.
“Thankfully I have been able to work with my own physio back home and also the Tour’s physio staff every day and they’re doing a good job of putting me back together again.
“But then if I secure my Tour card it will be all worth it and it’s a nice way to spend Christmas and the New Year knowing you have a job to go to after that.”
This week’s event on the Marquess Course is Lee’s 26th this year with a pair of back-to-back eighth place results in the Czech Republic and Russia his best but also in a year marked by missing the cut in 13 including the last two.
Lee is among seven Scots in the £3m event but Stephen Gallacher will not tee up after withdrawing midway through yesterday’s Pro-Am with a virus.
Gallacher will be hoping to shake the bug and cement his place in the Race to Dubai top-60 after moving up to 58th on the money list following his top-20 showing last week at the Dunhill Links Championship. He is keen to improve on his world ranking of 92, also.
He said: “I have been seeing the doctor and he’s got me on antibiotics but I everyone in the family seems to have had it. I just feel knackered and lethargic. But aside from that I just want to have a strong finish to the season. I want to try and get back into the top 50 in the world so I’ve got five events to do it.”
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