Twelve months after coming tantalisingly close to claiming his maiden European Tour title at the 2010 Czech Open, England’s Gary Boyd is hoping to prosper once again at this year’s €1.5million event.
Buoyed by his tied runner-up finish behind eventual champion Peter Hanson at Prosper Golf Resort last year, Boyd has returned to the Czech Republic with the aim of going one better this time around.
The youngster from Oxford has been paired in the first two rounds with Swede Oskar Henningsson, who preceded his compatriot Hanson as champion in 2009, and Ireland’s Peter Lawrie, who finished in a tie for second place alongside Boyd.
Boyd will have to contend with a new layout this year, with a composite course being used for the first time, and also with wet fairways after 44mm of rain fell in Čeladná on Monday night.
He said: “I’d love to go one better this year, although obviously it’s a different course to the one we played last year, so it’ll be interesting to see what the scoring’s going to be like. The new nine is a lot more wide open than the old nine we played last year, but it’s also a bit longer, so it probably evens itself out. On the back nine you can make a score, so that’s probably where you want to be picking up shots. But it’s quite wet out there, whereas it was very dry last year, so it’ll be playing much longer this time.”
Fortunately for Boyd, big hitting is one of his major strengths, though at times his work on the greens has not matched the quality of his long game.
But the 24 year old has holed more than his fair share of puts in recent weeks, and having spent much of the past fortnight practising his putting stroke, Boyd is confident of mounting another bold bid for glory this week.
He said: “It’s been a better year than last year, even though I haven’t had as many high finishes as I did then, which is a bit disappointing. But I’m about €100,000 better off than I was at this stage last season, so I’m definitely making progress. I came into this tournament last year in a poor run of form, but then one week kick-started my season, and I went from strength to strength after that. Hopefully that can be the case again this week, because traditionally my form has been good around this time of year. I feel like my game’s in pretty good shape and my putting’s improved. There are still a few things to work on, but we’re definitely getting there.”
Boyd’s renewed confidence has led him to set some lofty aims to achieve in both the short and long term, with a place in the field for the Dubai World Championship firmly in his sights, along with making his debut in the biggest team event in golf.
He said: “The Ryder Cup standings start in Crans in a couple of weeks’ time, so that’ll focus my mind. If I can get off to a good start, there’s a chance I could make the team. That’s definitely one of my goals, as is making the Vivendi team. I’d also like to qualify for the Dubai World Championship at the end of the season. I’m just outside the top 60 at the moment, but a top five finish here should probably push me into it, so that has to be my aim. There are lots of goals to be achieved, and hopefully I’ll make a start this week.”
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