Making the cut

Robert Allenby’s play-off victory in the Nedbank Challenge contains an object lesson for all those young hopefuls who would be professional golfers.

It’s a tough, unforgiving world and just recently hundreds of talented golfers, among them a major winner such as David Duval, have been playing in “qualifying schools” to try to obtain the card that is the key to automatic entry into tournaments and thus the ability to earn money.

Some don’t see it that way. They talk about the glory of winning a Major title; the pure satisfaction of winning; the titillation of competing and yet they should be talking about being in it to earn a living.

Allenby is proof of my contention. Here’s a man who, until he outlasted Henrik Stenson at Sun City, had not won a title anywhere in the world since 2005 – when he accomplished the Australian triple of their Open, PGA and Masters championships.

He had not won in America since 2001 yet his career earnings since turning professional in 1991 in all likelihood tops the US$30-million mark!

On the US PGA tour alone he has banked just on US$22-million and if you add in his earnings on his home tour and Europe you see that he is a veritable money-making machine – especially when you add in the $1,2-million he cashed in at Sun City.

Yet he’s never finished better than Tied 7th in one of the Majors.

Added to this he’s forged his career with a swing that would make the purists cringe – an armsy lunge at the ball that defies the coaching mantras of big shoulder turns and strong hip swivels.

What Allenby proves is that if you want to be a successful pro golfer you have to learn to be consistent – and before you take the leap you must have proved yourself at amateur level.

Allenby had a stellar amateur career winning the Australian junior title, the 1990 Victorian Amateur and the 1991 Victorian Open against a professional field. In 1991 he had also come within a whisker of winning the Australian Open before Wayne Riley sank a monster putt on the 72nd hole at Royal Melbourne to win by a single stroke.

I recall once being approached by the father of a fine young amateur golfer to ask what I thought of his son turning pro. The kid could play, like hell, and his record consisted of some fantastic scores but no triumphs in the big amateur events and my advice to the proud Dad was: “The one thing I have learnt from watching professional golf is that if you can’t beat the amateurs you sure as hell can’t beat the pros.”

My advice was not heeded. The youngster did turn pro, the pernicious pressure of others chasing the same pot of gold got to him, he began to doubt his swing, he tried too hard to win, his scoring ability dried up and soon he was looking for a job. Sadly he hardly plays today.

He came into the paid game with the wrong goal. The key to success is what Allenby has shown and that is “to make the cut.” Making the cut, at whatever level, enables you to play on and finish an event and thus earn a cheque; these cheques mount up and secure your card and then suddenly, one day, you find yourself in contention and you win.

But first you have to make the cut. Please tell anyone you know who might be thinking of turning pro.