Jason Barnes is hoping he can turn his stunning recent form into a maiden European Challenge Tour victory at this week’s inaugural D+D Real Slovakia Challenge, which marks the first ever major men's professional tournament in the eastern European nation.
The Englishman has twice come agonisingly close to a first win in the past two weeks, first at the Scottish Hydro Challenge hosted by Macdonald Hotels and Resorts, where he was two shots off the lead heading into the final round before finishing 11th, and then last week’s Aegean Airlines Challenge Tour by Hartl Resort, where he finished runner-up to Jake Roos.
That impressive purple patch has moved Barnes to 12th in the Challenge Tour Rankings, inside the crucial top 15 which earns European Tour promotion come the season’s end, and the Kent man feels he is getting closer to a first title.
“Everything feels really good at the moment, definitely,” said the 31 year old. “I've done a lot of weeks in a row so I’m not too great physically at the minute, I'm feeling quite stiff, but I'm really looking forward to this week.
“The last three weeks have been amazing so if I can get another top ten this week I’ll be in good shape before taking another week off.
“I was over the moon with last week because I started the final day four shots off the lead and had three or four guys ahead of me so I was just trying to have as good a finish as I could.
“To grab a second place from that position was amazing. If I had been leading heading down the last hole it might have been more disappointing but I was delighted with the finish.
“The more times you’re up there near the top the easier it becomes, the less pressure you feel and the more comfortable you feel. You feel more relaxed and at ease so I'm starting to think if I can keep getting myself into positions, the next time I'm up there I can get a win comfortably.
“I've just started to putt a little better lately and that’s been the only difference really. I'm taking a few more of my chances as opposed to hitting good shots in them walking off being angry with a par. Now I feel a lot more positive about everything.
“The putting is what it’s all about out here. A lot of the courses tend to provide just putting competitions, quite short and generous off the tee so whoever putts well is going to do well.”
Barnes is playing his ninth successive tournament this week and after such a gruelling schedule, he is looking forward to a well-deserved break next week. Of course, that prospect would be all the more pleasing if he were travelling home with a trophy in the bag.
“I’m going to take one week off next week and then back in France after that,” he said. “I’m in a position now where you can’t really afford to take many weeks off. You have to keep trying to pile on money.
“Any time I feel like I'm playing well, I’ve decided to keep playing. The second it starts to dip and you feel like you have to take a week off is the time I take my break.
“It feels like that now to be honest. I should have taken this week off maybe because I'm pretty tired but it’s just one final push because I'm playing well and then I’ll be able to do nothing for a week.
“When you’re on the course it’s fine but it’s the bits in between, the practise rounds and everything else, where you don’t pay as much attention to detail. I love to play as many practise rounds as I can get but at the minute I feel like I'm going through the motions and not taking in as many details.”
Barnes’ compatriot Andrew Johnston, winner of the recent Scottish Hydro Challenge hosted by Macdonald Hotels and Resorts, is in the field as he attempts to become the third two-time winner of the 2014 season, alongside Moritz Lampert and Jake Roos.
Johnston is joined by Thomas Linard, winner of the season’s other D+D Real sponsored event, the D+D Real Czech Challenge, as well as Turkish Airlines Challenge winner Oliver Farr and Challenge de Catalunya champion Antonio Hortal.
