Barry Lane will be hoping to lose his bridesmaid’s tag in this week’s MCB Tour Championship, having finished runner-up in the tournament on four previous occasions.
The Englishman comes into the season finale in third place on the European Senior Tour Order of Merit, and whilst even victory would not be enough to overtake runaway leader Colin Montgomerie, it would ensure he finishes the campaign as the ‘best of the rest’.
If that were not motivation enough, the memory of his play-off defeat to Paul Wesselingh 12 months ago – when the pair traded birdies for five extra holes before Lane fell at the sixth hurdle – should serve as further inspiration this week.
He said: “I’ve been playing this event since 1995, before it became the MCB Tour Championship, and I think I’ve finished second four times. Last year was particularly painful, because I played the play-off so well except for the last hole. So it’d be very nice to go one better, and I’ll be trying my hardest to get the win this week. I definitely want to tick this one off my bucket list before my career ends.”
If he is to achieve his lofty ambitions, Lane will need his driver to behave well, with the tight track at Constance Belle Mare Plage again set to test the 53-man field to the limit.
Despite the removal of some trees and shrubbery, the Legend Course still presents an intimidating challenge, but Lane is hopeful that his impressive record in the €420,000 event – he has finished in the top ten in four of his last five appearances – can continue despite the recent renovation work.
He said: “You’ve got to drive the ball very well on this course. You can probably take an iron off quite a few tees, but I always prefer to take a slightly bolder approach. There are so many rocks and trees, and although it now looks a bit wider after some of the trees have been removed, the rocks are still very much there and you’re even more aware of them so for me it may be even more intimidating!”
“The greens are also pretty difficult to read and it can get quite windy at times, so you can’t be too aggressive because you can easily run up some big numbers. So it tests your all round game. You might have one or two good rounds, but it’s very difficult to go low on all four days. If you’re not absolutely straight with your drives, the course seems to get narrower and narrower so mentally it can be a real challenge.”
