Conor Purcell hopes he has regained his tournament sharpness after his return to competitive action at last week’s Bain’s Whiskey Cape Town Open in South Africa.
Purcell impressed on his first start of the new Challenge Tour season, opening with rounds of 67 and 69 to lie just one shot off the halfway lead before weekend efforts of 72 and 71 forced him to settle for a share of 24th place.
Making his first start since November’s Australian Open, the Portmarnock man was pleased to dust off the cobwebs and saw some good early signs he hopes to build on.
“Last week I got stuck in neutral after day one, the game wasn’t firing on all cylinders but I was happy enough with the four days, first event of the year.
“I’ve stuff to work on, just knowing what happens under pressure and what happens on tournament days and once you’re out of competition it can take a while to get back into it but last week gave me a good grasp of what to do.”
Purcell is in action again this week at the Dimension Data Pro-Am at Fancourt Golf Estate where he finished T6 twelve months ago. The 26-year-old will then get another opportunity to impress at the top level when he makes the step up to the DP World Tour at next week’s Magical Kenya Open.
“I had a good game plan last week but didn’t execute it too well, tee shots cost me a bit, hitting it off line was costly but I have plenty to work on and I’m ready for this week and then next week in Kenya on the DP World Tour.”
Purcell headlines a stacked Irish contingent this week with Gary Hurley, Jonathan Caldwell, Ronan Mullarney, Dermot McElroy, Mark Power and Tuesday qualifier, Richie O’Donovan making up a super seven in South Africa.
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