Just 12 days after their magnificent victory over America, three of Great Britain & Ireland’s Walker Cup heroes will take part in the Austrian GolfOpen presented by Lyoness at the Diamond Country Club.
Tom Lewis, Paul Cutler and Andy Sullivan have all joined the paid ranks after impressive amateur careers, and all three hope to have a first cheque in hand come Sunday night.
Lewis, who shot to fame when he carded the lowest ever amateur round at The Open Championship to lead after the opening round at Sandwich, anticipates a steep learning curve ahead.
“I’m looking forward to making my professional debut,” he said.
“I am feeling a little bit of pressure but I think that is just a desire to do well for everyone that has supported me, my new sponsors and myself.
“At the same time I know that it is going to be a tough week and that it is all down to me - if I play badly then I will be going home for the weekend but if I can play well then you just never know what can happen.
“I feel that I need to do well. It is different now that I am professional and this is my life - The Open and the experiences I had there were great and have given me a lot of confidence to turn professional and try to compete at the highest level.
“It would be nice to get a cheque at the end of the week – I am hoping that I can get a few cheques from my seven events so that I can make enough money to get my European Tour card straight away.”
A place in the top 115 of The Race to Dubai will probably require Lewis to make around €250,000, with €1,000,000 prize fund available this week.
Cutler took three and a half points out of four at Royal Aberdeen, and the 22 year old Northern Irishman has already shown he is capable of performing on the big stage with a 21st place finish at the Irish Open.
“I’m pretty excited to be here and probably a little bit nervous as well,” he said.
“There is a different buzz to the professional events and I can really feel that this week. You just have to look around to see what the standard is going to be like on Tour.
“There are no bad players in the field and you have Major Champions, Ryder Cup players and guys with loads of Tour victories so it is going to be tough. That is very different from what we are used to but I am looking forward to the challenge.
“I am just trying to look after myself and hopefully play well this week. The Walker Cup was a great experience for me and obviously playing well personally and the Team winning made it a really great week for me. It’s been a bit of a whirlwind since then but I am ready to get going now.
“I’m looking forward to it and hopefully I can repay the people who are supporting me. I have received some great support from the Irish Sports Council, through the Team Ireland Golf Trust already and that is really going to help me make the best possible start to my career.”
Veteran Phil Morbey is on the bag for the Portstewart man this week.
England’s Sullivan also has European Tour experience – he made the cut in the Czech Republic after narrowly missing out on the weekend at the Open de España.
“I’m just really excited to be out here,” he said. “I got a taste of pro life in Spain and the Czech Republic recently but I just can’t wait get going properly.
“I have been asked a lot of there is a difference but to be honest it doesn’t feel any different. It will be different on Sunday night if I have nice cheque in my hand!
“It has always been a dream of mine to be a professional golfer. This is what I have wanted ever since I was a kid – to play on The European Tour against some of the best in the world. In that respect I am really excited and just buzzing. I just want to get going.”
One player still competing as an amateur this week is Manuel Trappel, the Austrian who won this year’s European Amateur Championship.
Drawn with Lewis and Cutler for the first two rounds, the 24 year old admits he can’t wait to feature in a tournament that features some of golf’s biggest names.
“It really is a great honour for me to be playing here this week,” he said. “It will be good to play with Tom and Paul in the first two rounds, but just to be here, to be in a tournament along with players like Padraig Harrington, John Daly and Miguel Angel Jiménez is something that I could not have dreamed of a few months ago.”
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