End of the swing.

Last week in Qatar I played well again but failed to get anything going, kind of one step forward, one step back…that’s been the story of the trip in general. 9 holes practice and a few hours on the range on Tuesday saw my game still in good shape from the previous week. The change of greens threw me slightly, I had found my stroke on Sunday in Abu Dhabi but struggled with the grainy Doha greens. This is one of the main problems in Europe, greens week to week differ so much and take some adjusting to.

I had an early start on Wednesday with a 7am Pro-Am, lots of the guys don’t really enjoy them but anyone who knows me knows I don’t mind having a chat on the course, its nice to meet new people and hopefully give them an enjoyable day. We finish -9 as a team which sounds pretty good but when the average winning score is around -16 the guys could have done with a better Pro that day! I had another early start on Thursday and opened with a solid 2 under 70, which was pleasing. After a poor start to the second round I got back on top of my game and with a good back nine made the cut comfortably. After a poor weekend in Abu Dhabi I was determined to play well and I probably pushed a bit too hard, with not holing any putts I wasn’t able to move up the leaderboard. Main thing was I had played another four rounds and after a long break you need as much tournament golf as possible.

I arrived in Dubai for the final week with high hopes, I played a practice round early on Tuesday morning as I wasn't in the Pro-Am on Wednesday. Jean Van De Velde joined me for my back nine, Jean really is a good guy and great company...it was a shame that the golf got in the way of a good chat! Tuesday night was a nice break from the golf, you need to get away from it at times, I managed to get tickets to see Cirque Du Soleil, the performers where awesome, the story was good and music was fantastic...what a show! Back to the golf, I spent hours on the practice green Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday and felt I had something to take on the course in the tournament. My first round started well with a birdie at my first but I gave it back at the third when I missed a short one for par. A good approach to my eigth got me back to 1 under for the round and while I was being as patient as a saint I couldn't make another birdie, a couple of late bogeys left me with a 1 over 73, so disappointing as I felt I played so well.

I started my second round knowing I needed to shoot under par to have any chance of making the half way cut and opened with a disappointing bogey, but a wedge to four foot at the second and another to less than a foot at the next got me back on track, only to be halted by a three putt bogey at the fourth. I missed chance after chance until I holed a 20 foot putt on the eleventh and thought that would be the turning point, 2 putts on the par 5 thirteenth gave me another birdie but it didn't seem to matter how close I hit it after that I just couldn't make a birdie. I ended up missing the cut by a single shot, I hit 32 greens out of 36 in regulation which would have been one of the best stats of the entire field but I had 68 putts... that's just plain horrible! I've been able to hit lots of balls at home but the one thing you can't do in Newcastle in the winter is putt on good greens and this showed up, I was rusty. A pleasing point in Dubai was that I had lots of local support, with Geordie accents wishing me well every where I went... there was even visible support with a lad following me round wearing a number 4 Newcastle United shirt.

The Middle East swing has been very promising but at the same time a little disappointing. I wasn’t to sure what to expect with having so much time off over the winter but after a few days in Abu Dhabi I had high hopes that there could be a couple of good finishes. There have been so many positives in the three weeks, I have played some excellent golf tee to green, my ball striking has been as good as it has for a long time and have really looked forward to and enjoyed playing. Most of this goes down to my switch of irons during the off season, they have given me a lot of confidence to be able to play lots of different shots, I have spent my whole life being a “feel player” and have lost that art the last couple of years, but its back! As any golfer is aware your whole game is rarely 100% and top professionals are no different to the weekend golfer.

I have six weeks off now before my next tournament on the European tour, which will be spent continuing the good work with my coach John Harrison at Matfen Hall. There will be a trip to America at some point to do some club testing in California and spend a few days in Georgia practicing at Augusta, trying to get some local knowledge for the upcoming Masters tournament.

Look back soon for updates on my progress.