It’s already been a winning year for Robert Brazill who clinched his maiden victory as a professional in January on the Winter Tour Marbella, but as he embarks on his Clutch Pro Tour campaign he wants more.
Very much a confidence player, Brazill knows what winning can do for belief having won the West and Connacht Strokeplay as an amateur. But a chance to string a run of form together after his Marbella victory was hampered when he fractured a bone in his hand, meaning his next competitive appearance came on Tuesday after eight weeks off.
And what a return it was, Brazill fired his lowest competitive round and broke the course record at La Vie in Oman with a blistering 63 to share the first round lead in the Clutch Pro Tour event where he eventually finished eleventh.
“I fractured a bone in my hand in late January so I was out for 8 weeks,” explains Brazill who admits he felt he was still riding the confidence of his January win but was also battling the fear of the unknown on his return. “Abu Dhabi last week was just a touch too soon for me to come back. I said I would give myself an extra week.
“There’s a mix of both, when you come back from injury you don’t know what way it’s going to go but then as well the last time I teed it up I won. It was my first win as a professional so that was a confidence train that I really, really wanted to ride to see what way things were going to go from it.”
Finishing eleventh on the Clutch Pro Tour won’t cut the mustard if the Naas man is to progress to the HotelPlanner Tour where the top-3 on the Order of Merit gain full status with fourth to sixth earning seven invites.
“The one big thing this year was to win as a pro. The aim of the game is to win, at any level no matter what tour it is. It was a massive goal for me to win. I won twice as an amateur and I know what that did for my confidence so that was a big goal to try and win this year and I have done that.
“I want to be able to consistently compete and try and get to the next level.”
Brazill is in his second season as a professional and his first campaign taught him a lot about patience as he missed five cuts on the Clutch Pro Tour, registering one top-10.
At amateur level he had an X-factor, especially with the driver but as he looks to get his second full season off the ground he knows that he must pick and choose when to unleash his aggression.
“I learned a lot last year in terms of the standard of golf that’s needed. In amateur golf you can get away with a bad round whereas in the pro game you just can’t, there’s no let up. If you aren’t under par when you play, you are not making up ground.
“I learned a lot about patience and not trying to rush things and force myself under par. At the end of the day I am good enough to make birdies, so there’s no point in trying to force it. Keeping the ball in play is so important around these golf courses, or any golf course really. Sometimes attacking and not attacking, just being smartly aggressive.
“Last year I struggled big time off the tee and that really hampered my scores big time. Normally driving is the best part of my game so that’s where I can make numbers and I didn’t use that to my advantage at all last year. I put a lot of work into it over the winter and it proved itself over in Marbella because I drove it unbelievable down there. Even other parts of my game weren’t great and I managed to win.”
Maintaining concentration will be key for the 28-year-old and cutting out what he describes as the “stupid s***e” if he is to progress through the pro ranks.
“Driving the ball exceptionally well and then short game and putting is crucial. For me, that’s the fine margin difference of competing and playing. Being able to make up and downs when you need them and doing the simple things right which I tend to have not done a lot in the past.
“Just stupid stuff. Little things like that are such momentum swingers and that’s huge in amateur and professional golf. Having momentum on the golf course is so important because you are nearly bouncing around rather than slugging around.”
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