Bearsden’s Ewen Ferguson in action as Challenge Tour restarts with Austrian Open

Ferguson is in the field for the Austrian Open, which begins on Thursday as competitive golf resumes after its COVID-19-enforced hibernation.

And after a five-month stint on the sidelines - his last tournament was in South Africa in February - he’s raring to go.

“It’s been pretty tough during the lockdown. Usually I’m always on the go and ready to play and practice and prepare myself for tournaments,” said Ferguson, who turns 24 on Sunday.

“Then lockdown happened and I’ve not played in ages. I started back again when the Government allowed us to and felt a little bit rusty.

“Then all of a sudden hearing that the European Tour was starting back was a pretty quick turnover. But I’ve been working pretty hard for the past couple of weeks and feel ready to go.

“I’m just hoping to first of all make the cut and then try and push myself into contention a little bit, hopefully try and make a move up the leader board and see what I can do.

“Everyone’s rusty, but it’s been the same for everyone so I’m not too concerned about that now that I’ve had a few weeks of practice.

“It’s all a confidence-based thing. Everyone’s talented and can play really well so it’s just in the moment, make the putts and get the confidence going and you never know what can happen.”

Ferguson is looking to continue the year-on-year progress he feels he has made since turning pro after helping Great Britain to Walker Cup glory against the USA at Royal Lytham in 2015.

Last year’s highs included a series of promising results on the Challenge Tour and a superb third place finish at the Belgian Knockout European Tour event.

The low came at the end of the year as he just missed out on a European Your card at the gruelling six-round Q School qualifying event in Spain.

A superb eight-under round of 64 put him bang in contention for the required top 25 finish with two rounds to play, but a fifth round of 75 saw him slide down the leader board and he eventually finished tied 57th.

He said: “I was quite happy in that I made progress from the year before. Every year since I’ve been a pro I’ve upped my ranking and feel quite proud that I’m gradually progressing and earning my stripes.

“Even though I just missed out on full European Tour playing rights I still got a good category.

“The margins are so small you can get something switch your way and then all of a sudden you’re not looking back.

“I shot eight under in the fourth round and was right in contention but it just slipped away again.

“It’s just one of these things. As I said the margins are so small you just never know.

“I’m quite happy that I’ve made progress again and got myself into contention a good few times and feel it’s only going to stand me in good stead for the rest of this year and next year again.

“Golf’s funny. There’s not just one ticket to get there - everyone’s goes on their little routes and I feel quite comfortable and confident in my own little route and making the jump when I’m ready.

“To finish third in a European Tour event [The Belgian Knockout] was really good with a big pay cheque and it was pretty exciting for me with lots of TV time.”

Next week’s Austrian Open will be played at the Diamond Country Club, near Vienna.

It’s the first of two back-to-back events in Austria with the Euram Bank Open - an event Ewen finished second in last year - taking place at Adamstal the following week.

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