Two events and two missed cuts haven't deflated Raymond Burns. His enthusiasm comes bubbling down the crystal-clear mobile line from South Africa where, this week, the 24-year-old rejoins the European Tour's early season odyssey with a new driver and a new putter which he hopes will provide the answers to his ills.
Originally, Burns hadn't intended to include the Alfred Dunhill South African PGA championship - which starts at the Houghton Club in Johannesburg on Thursday - in his schedule. But, as the United States administration continues its public build-up to a possible air strike on Iraq, putting a question mark on the staging of the Dubai Desert Classic (where Burns has been particularly successful during his short professional career) and the Qatar Masters, the Irishman decided to play in Johannesburg in an effort to "get some points on the board."
His globe-trotting this season has already taken him to play in Thailand and Australia, without any financial gain - he missed the cuts in both the Johnnie Walker and Heineken Classic. Next week, Burns will join Paul McGinley and Darren Clarke in the field for the Malaysian Open (which is not a European Tour event) and, the following week, if there is no downward development in the Gulf region, he hopes to renew a profitable relationship with the Dubai Classic at the Emirates club.
"I feel fantastic," said Burns yesterday, safely housed in the locker-room of the Houghton club with nine-holes of practice on "a lovely course" already under his belt. The trials and tribulations of fruitless journeys to the Far East and Australia have left no scars and, upon arrival in Johannesburg at nine o'clock, Burns headed for the course and straight out into the heat of the day. "My approach is that it is a long season and it's actually good to be out playing for two weeks already," he said. "Admittedly, I did have some problems in Thailand and getting the fine for slow play did annoy me, probably more than I should have allowed it to."
That matter, though, has been put into the lessons of golfing life and he has refocused, with the help of a new driver, for his resumption on the circuit. "I have a new Titleist titantium driver with me and I'm hitting it lovely," revealed Burns, "which is exactly what you need to do around here, because the fairways are very tight."
The driver is similar to one Burns used over the winter months when practising in the United States, but it was damaged prior to his travels to Thailand and he only managed to get a replacement last week.
The Achilles heel in Burns's game last season, however, was his putting. This season, he has abandoned the broom-handle putter and put his faith in a short putter with a 32-inch shaft. "I played great for the first six months last season but, then I started to putt badly and it went through my entire game," he recalled. "This new putter, however, is nice. It doesn't come out of my hand on the way through and I'm feeling very confident."
Indeed, there seems to be a sense of maturity about Burns. Although he joined the European Tour after a fine amateur career and two Walker Cup appearances, his best Order of Merit place was a modest 81st in the 1996 season. This season, he is setting his sights on an achievable goal.
"My aim is to make it into the top 50 in the Order of Merit, which will get me into the Volvo Masters, although I know if I play to my capability I can do even better than that. I am learning all the time," said Burns.
Burns will put such a positive approach to the test in South Africa this week where he forms part of a three-man Irish contingent. Eamonn Darcy, who missed the cut in last week's South African Open, and Francis Howley, who failed to come through the qualifying event, are also in the field for the PGA championship which has attracted a strong field including Ernie Els, the winner in Durban, and Greg Norman, who won in Australia on Sunday. Nick Price is the defending champion.
A record prize fund of £1.75 million will be on offer at the British Open at Royal Birkdale this July. The winner will receive £300,000, an increase of £50,000 on the amount that accompanied the claret jug which Justin Leonard won at Royal Troon last year.
"In addition to the 20 per cent increase for the winner, we have increased all prizemoney by 7.5 per cent," said David Hill, championship secretary of the R & A. "This underlines our aim not only to reward those at the top, but also to ensure that all players who make the 36-hole cut receive due recompense for their efforts."
The recent dramatic rise in the British Open's prize fund, almost doubling in the last seven years, is highlighted by the amount Tom Watson received at Birkdale in 1983 for the last of his five Open wins. Then, he received £40,000 out of a total prize fund of £300,000.
