Gary Marks believes the seven under par 65 which launched him into contention on moving day at the WINSTONgolf Senior Open may well prove an overdue career breakthrough as the Englishman’s long career in European professional golf heads towards its pinnacle on the Senior Tour.
The Londoner spent much of his golfing career trying to make it onto The European Tour but, despite a Challenge Tour career in which he came agonisingly close to graduation, even winning a title in 1996, and numerous tries at Qualifying School, he never quite got the break he needed.
The European Senior Tour, however, has afforded Marks a second chance to battle among some of the former greats of the game and finally fulfil the potential he so clearly possessed as a burgeoning pro.
In just his fifth appearance on the tour, the 51 year old has given himself a shot at a maiden title - entering the final round just two shots off the lead set by Spaniard Pedro Linhart – and Marks is hoping that his many years of hard work can now reap the requisite rewards in the highest echelons of European golf.
“I’m very happy with that round,” he said. “I’ve had a shaky start to my Senior Tour career. I had a wrist injury in Jersey and had to withdraw for that week and the following week and then last week at Bad Ragaz I was trying to find something but didn’t really play well.
“I’ve brought something better this week and I dropped the putts when they were needed. I had one bit of trouble on17 but I got out of it with a par so other than that it was just a question of taking my chances.
“That’s the best round of my Senior Tour career, definitely. It’s a rocky old road, being a golfer. One minute you’re up, another minute you’re down. Tomorrow I could play just as well and not take the chances and be six shots worse.
“It will be an exciting day tomorrow, being in the thick of the action. It’s not a breakthrough yet, not until close of play tomorrow. It’s really encouraging to be in this position though. I’m fairly positive but it’s a treacherous game.”
A win in Germany would mark a peak in the career of a player who never gave up on the dream of tournament golf.
“I’ve always tried to leave tournament golf as an option throughout my career,” he said. “In other words, I haven’t take a full time club job, but I have been teaching. I played Challenge Tour for a few years in the 90s, but never got a European Tour card through there.
“I had many goes at Qualifying School over a 30-year period but never got through. So you just keep playing in regional tournaments and pro-ams, and taking a chance at Q-School at the end of the year.
“Getting the Senior Tour card in January was a big deal for me, because then you have access to a full tour schedule, you can plan your year and not panic after one bad event.
“The main thing is that I have tried to keep my life based around tournament golf, whatever level. This time I have around nine starts and tomorrow I need to try and hang around at the top.
“You’ve still got to unravel the puzzle that golf presents and, logically it’s hard to see how someone who hasn’t made it throughout their career can go on and do it on the Senior Tour, but it is possible. Guys keep learning as they go and we can see from this tour that some players that never made it at European Tour level can show some form out here and make a career of it.”
