Craig Lee doesn’t want to leave saving his European Tour card until the final few weeks of the season, but at least the Stirling pro knows he can do it.
The 39-year-old is in his fifth successive year on the European Tour after enduring all sorts of struggles to get to the show, and he’s showing great tenacity to hold on to his rights for next season once again.
Lee enters today’s British Masters at The Grove lying 108th in the Race to Dubai – two spots above the cut-off point for automatically regaining his playing rights – and that after a leap of €60,000 in the last two weeks with Top 25 finishes at both the Porsche European Open and the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
“Every year seems to be the same, I always seem to go into the final few events just outside the top 110 and chasing my card,” he admitted.
“But the good thing is that I know I’ve done it in the past and I certainly take confidence from that. It’s about using those past experiences and not allowing myself to get worked up about the position I’m in.”
The Dunhill Links was a tournament that had never been too kind to him, but a 24th placing this year made a big difference, he added.
“It was great from a confidence point of view as I played really nicely, but it’s the first time I’ve played really well on the Old Course,” he said. “It’s always managed to get the better of me in the past, so I was delighted to shoot four-under on Sunday.
“It’s always tough to gauge what you need to do to hang on to your card and especially this year because there are a lot of guys on the bubble who might not get into some events, and some really talented players behind us as well.
“It’s best just to ignore that and I’ll just be concentrating on my own golf in these next two events.”
Lee is confident he can continue his run at The Grove, where Luke Donald is tournament host this year.
“I’ve played The Grove plenty of times before, as one of my best mates is the pro down there and I’ve been there seeing him and playing the course,” he said.
“The last counting event in Portugal has also been good to me in the past and the great thing is that I’m now going into these events feeling confident again due to playing some good golf.
“I’m not putting as much pressure on myself to try and get the job done. It’s about trying to let my golf speak for itself and allow me to cross that line.”
Taping a troublesome wrist injury before each round seems to let Lee play freely, and he knows that it’s what he does that will count.
“It doesn’t take much at this level, especially how strong the fields are at this time of the year, for it to go the wrong way, but it’s in my hands now.
“That’s the most important thing and I’m quietly confident.”
