Planning a new start in America

HAVING been heavily influenced by the same golfing guru during the early days of his professional career, Eoghan O'Connell seems set to follow Nick Faldo's lead once more in the coming weeks by concentrating his efforts on making a name for himself on the US Tour.

Given the 28 year old's recent form on this side of the Atlantic, the years he spent at college in Wake Forest and the fact that his wife, Ann Marie, is an American, the move is not entirely surprising. And, after taking the bulk of this season off to rebuild both his game and his confidence, the Killarney player feels this is a natural time to make the switch.

"I had to start from square one again one way or the other, and so it was time for me to sit down and figure out what really suited me best. I know a lot of lads from college who are on the tour there now, and I've played a lot of very good golf there, so I decided it made sense to give it a go," he said.

Certainly O'Connell produced little good golf last season, when he was still concentrating on making the big breakthrough in Europe. But while he concedes that his performances were consistently disappointing, he feels that the bulk of his misfortunes were attributable to a wrist injury caused by an unsuitable swing, an unhealthy sprinkling of poor luck and, inevitably, steadily declining self belief.

"I missed the cut by one shot, I missed three cuts like that, and that was when my wrist really started acting up. The problem, though, was that I played through with the injury when I should have rested it for a few weeks and so out on the golf course I was trying to protect it, playing bad shots, and that is where some of the bad golf started to come from."

The former Walker cup player ended up having to return to the School for the first time, but deepening problems with his wrist prevented him from mounting a serious challenge to regain his card in Spain where after receiving a cortisone injection which gave little relief, he eventually withdrew ahead of the fourth round.

He hopes, however, that all of that is behind him now for, having worked through much of the past year with Simon Holmes near his new Florida base, and with Tony Coveney during his visits home to Killarney, he feels that his swing is much better and that, for the first time in far too long, he is capable of producing something approaching his best. .

The four tour events he has played through the summer have yielded little reason for confidence, but the last few weeks, he says, have been "very encouraging". The swing that David Leadbetter moulded, and which some observers have felt was at the core of his difficulties, has been adapted to suit his natural game better and his confidence is growing once more as he heads towards what will be a very important test.

"The Tour school starts on October 15th in Georgia, before going on to South Carolina and then California. It'll be tough all right, because something like 2,000 players go for it. But when you are playing, well, you don't mind who you are, up against and I am getting back towards that point again now.

There is, of course, one thing that might change his plans. A top three finish here this weekend would be enough to earn him his European card for next year, while a top 10 placing would earn him another shot at it over the coming, weeks.