Player Blog: Graeme Storm

A month after winning the BMW SA Open, England's Graeme Storm returns to South Africa this week for the Joburg Open. During a rain delay in practice, he sat down and wrote this week's Player Blog talking about his epic final round battle with Rory McIlroy, his beloved Liverpool FC, why he doesn't set goals and his favourite recipes at home.

I’ve been looking forward to coming back to South Africa since my win last month. It’s been great to see some the same people and I’ve had a lot of people coming up to me and congratulating me. I love coming to this part of the world, we’ve got a couple of great events the next two weeks and I can’t wait to get started again.

I absolutely love playing in South Africa. I finished fourth and first in my last two events here and I think I had my lowest round at this event back in 2012. I’ve been playing down here since 2001 when I first got my Tour card. The weather is a major factor. It gets quite hot but it’s a dry heat so it doesn’t get too humid which is great to play in. The courses are always in great shape and the greens tend to be pretty firm which I like.

Last year, before the season started, I sat down with a psychologistand set some goals and targets for the year and, to be honest, all it did was put more pressure on my game and I ended up not enjoying my golf. Every round it felt like I was trying to reach these goals and not just enjoying or trusting myself. After what happened at the end of the season, it has changed the way I view things.

That week in Portugal ended up being one of the best things to happened to me. It made me reevaluate everything I’ve been through, everything I’ve done and maybe where I was going wrong. With all the pressure that was on me that week it may not have gone the way I liked but I was proud of how I handled myself. I played well all week, shot in the 60s every day and just came up a shot short. Ultimately, there’s no more pressure than playing for your livelihood and, in hindsight, what happened has made me stronger mentally and there’s no doubt it’s helped me already this season.

84 days ago...

The final green at the Portugal Masters when @StormyGraeme realised he had lost his Tour card by a single shot. pic.twitter.com/yyISQcorCw

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) 15 January 2017

Glendower was just surreal. I was playing great and in form but to tee it up in the final round with Rory was amazing. I’ve known him for years but that was our first round together and to be honest, it probably helped me. I never had a chance to ease up or take my mind off what I was doing because you’re walking alongside maybe the best golfer in the world. People have asked me what it was like playing him, was I nervous? And honestly, it was great. He’s a laid back guy and we’ve got a lot in common and chatted throughout the round and it was just a great day. It’ll be nice to always been remembered as the guy who beat Rory McIlroy.

I don’t think there’s anyone in the world that hits the ball as long and straight as Rory. I honestly think if he hadn’t gotten injured, it would be him at World Number One today. Playing alongside guys like that you can only admire what they do. There’s no way I can outhit him so I had to stick to my plan. On the 18th hole, that was five wood off the tee and I stuck to that in the playoff. It left me further back but I was confident I could find the green and make him think he needs to make a birdie to beat me. Ultimately, it worked out and it was a great feeling.

Walking off the 18th green he came back over to me and said well doneand how I fully deserved it, both for the way I played and what happened back in Portugal. He must have been pretty gutted to lose but he took really well and spoke very kindly about me after the round. It just shows the kind of guy he is.

The last time I had a feeling like that Sunday on Tour was back in 2006at Doral at the World Golf Championship event. I was grouped with Vijay Singh and Geoff Ogilivy in the final group on Sunday. I shot one under, the same score as Geoff who won, and that was my first taste of what pressure at top tier of the game is like.

Away from the course I’m a big Liverpool fan and I love to talk football. Rory and I talked about the latest games throughout the day on that Sunday and it’s a pretty popular topic of discussion and debate on Tour. It’s been an interesting season for Liverpool so far, after such a good start but a struggle recently and I think Jurgen Klopp is getting used to life without a winter break. As golfers, we get to pick and choose our schedule and you quickly learn how important time off and rest weeks are and I think he’s suffering from not having the same break he had in Germany. The way his teams play is so full on and high-energy that it has to take its toll, especially with how many guys they were playing in December.

I remember Darren Clarke saying he wanted to talk to Klopp ahead of the Ryder Cupand I know Thomas Bjorn is a big Liverpool fan, so he may seek his advice. I imagine if they do talk, Klopp’s advice would be similar to how he operates in football: work hard, put pressure on the other team and never give up. That is what the Ryder Cup is all about and I’m sure he would just reiterate those principles.

Back home, I try and give a lot back to junior golf. I’ve got aJunior Open back in England on April 8thand we’ve improved and increased it this year and we’ll have 180 or so boys and girls playing which is really encouraging. These kids are the future of the game, both professionally and in amateur golf. They can learn so much about how to improve but also learn so many life skills like hard work, meeting people, patience and so on.

I learnt a lot of life skills as a boy and even worked in a cake factory when I turned pro to cover my costs. I lost my card in 2001 and had a poor season the following year so I had find some way of covering my debts and getting some money for mini Tours. My father-in-law ran a cake factory so I worked full-time, up at 7am, helping make all the cakes for the major supermarkets in the UK. Following that little stint, he and a friend both gave me some money to go out on Tour and I finished in the top 25 on the Challenge Tour the next year and never looked back.

Now I’m fortunate to play golf full-timeand when I’m back home and not playing, I can relax and spend time with my family and my kids. A week off the Tour means I back doing the school run and spending time with them, at playing fields and piano lessons. I’m also the cook of the house, so if I’m back from an event, I’ll be in the kitchen knocking together a chilli or a spaghetti Bolognese.

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