NO SCOT has endured more golfing woe since claiming the prestigious PGA Championship title at Wentworth four years ago than Scott Drummond. This year alone he missed the cut at 19 of the first 20 events he entered, and he arrived in St Andrews at the Alfred Dunhill Links with just under £15,000 in earnings and a lowly spot on the Order of Merit in 254th place.
It was entirely fitting, therefore, as rays of watery sunshine poured down on the Old Course yesterday, that Drummond's game should finally brighten up as he covered the back nine in 31, five under par, and signed for 67, his lowest score of the year
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"The difference was I made a few putts on the back nine," reasoned the Scot, whose five-year exemption as a member of the European Tour for winning the PGA runs out at the end of 2009.
"I kept it in play and took advantage of the par saves I made on the way out when I went into bunkers on the second and fifth holes. I got it together on the back nine and scored as well as I have done for some time."
Knowing he needed to do something radical to crawl out of the pit he'd dug for himself, Drummond decided to change coaches during the summer and work with Clive Tucker, the teacher who helped David Howell and now assists Graeme McDowell. The pair got together at Loch Lomond and Drummond took a month off from tournament golf to implement the changes.
Drummond, 34, had previously worked with the same coach for 20 years. "It was a big decision for me, but I had to do something because I just wasn't putting in the scores on Thursday and Friday at tournaments," he said.
"I felt I needed a second opinion and Clive was an obvious choice. He made some suggestions about my backswing and we did some work to make it simpler and get the club on line."
Understanding that he couldn't rely on past achievement to sustain his career beyond 2009, Drummond felt it was right to make those changes now rather than wait until next season. "The idea is to get my game in shape for next year and if it comes together sooner then great."
Happily for Drummond, after playing all four rounds at both the British Masters and the Mercedes, the signs are he's stopped the rot. "I've got something in place for next year after experiencing all that frustration," he said. "I was on a slow downward spiral, but I never wanted to be labelled a one-hit wonder."
The full article contains 448 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
