When Tom Lewis won the 2011 Portugal Masters on only his third start as a professional, the Englishman appeared to have the golfing world at his feet.
Lewis had already won the Silver Medal at that year’s Open Championship, his opening 65 at Royal St George’s the lowest ever score by an amateur in the event, before he played a starring role in Great Britain & Ireland’s Walker Cup triumph.
“I think I expected things quickly,” said Lewis. “I was thinking 'every three weeks a win'. I thought that's the way it was going to go. I obviously quickly realised that's not the way it is.”
A disappointing 2012 followed, in which Lewis failed to record a top ten in a strokeplay event and finished 117th in The Race to Dubai, and things got worse in 2013 when the 22 year old missed ten cuts in 11 starts to leave his European Tour future in doubt.
Some improved form gradually materialised midway through the season, but Lewis was still well outside the top 110 who keep their cards at the start of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship a fortnight ago.
A share of third place in Scotland earned Lewis almost €200,000, however, and having climbed to 90th he is targeting a late tilt at reaching the top 60 in time for the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.
“The Dunhill is always going to be a good place for me. I think there are a lot of good courses that suit me, and obviously this week, coming here with some form, if I can play like I did last week, then there's no reason why I can't be up there on Sunday.
“Winning just happened so quickly that I didn't really appreciate what I did. Starting from The Open, I thought life was like that for everyone, but it hasn't really been that way for the last 18 months.
“I've learned a lot from it and I've come out of it a stronger player and a stronger person, and obviously last week was more like I can play. If I can keep my head down and keep working hard, then there's no reason why I can't play like that week in, week out.
“I was looking at The Race to Dubai, and obviously I need a good week this week to help me into Dubai.
“Last week has given me a lot of confidence going into next year, and I've learned a lot in the last 18 months, two years of my career, and obviously the win here two years ago gave me that experience.
“I was always going to take a little longer than everyone maybe expected to learn, and I feel like I've learned a lot in 18 months, and obviously I'm going to always carry on learning, but I think I've learned the tough part now. If I can carry on playing like I've been playing the last couple of months, then who knows where I'll be this time next year?
“I was getting frustrated with myself and my game because I felt like my game was as strong as all the guys out here, but I was getting no results, and that wound me up a little bit. I was getting myself down and beating myself up. I did that for so long, I couldn't take any more and I accepted where I was.
“Then I went over to America and worked with Butch [Harmon] and worked on simplifying my swing out, and that worked for me. I worked with Dave Alred and tried to work on my performance and get away from technique and try to score and practise more with a purpose instead of maybe spending hours on stuff I didn't need to spend time on. It all kind of fit together. I have a good team behind me, alongside Bob Rotella, I've worked with everyone you can think of and I couldn't have asked for a better team.”
With his confidence restored, Lewis is now targeting more success at Oceânico Victoria Golf Course, which suits his eye.
“I've always liked coming here,” he added. “The weather is always nice, and the courses are always in great condition. The course suits me, so whenever you've played well somewhere, it's always going to be nice to come back to where you have good memories.
“It's a driver's course, so if you can drive the ball very well, then you're always in a good position to go ahead and make birdies. I feel like I'm a good driver of the ball, and the way I've been hitting it recently, it sets up for me and if I can hit a lot of the fairways then I'm going to give myself a lot of birdie opportunities.”
