Heading into the Shankai Classic presented by IDG there are few people more vulnerable to those behind them in the European Challenge Tour Rankings than Scott Henry who, in 15thplace, is currently the last man who would earn his spot in The Race to Dubai next year.
Quite a precarious position, then, for the Scot who recorded his best finish of the season back in May at the Madeira Islands Open – Portugal – BPI where he lost in a play-off to Englishman Daniel Brooks at Clube de Golf do Santo da Serra.
That narrow miss earned him €37,500 towards the Rankings, a substantial sum that has been the foundation on which the 2012 Kazakhstan Open winner has built his current position in the season-long list.
His tie for third at the Najeti Hotels et Golfs Open was another impressive display, but in the months since that result in June, Henry has been somewhat subdued on the course having failed to post a top ten.
Calm and mild mannered off the course, the 27 year old should not get too flustered by the position he finds himself in currently, and after some good time spent on his game last week the Clydebank resident is ready to give it all he has got in these final four weeks of the campaign.
“To be honest it has not been the best few weeks for me,” said Henry. “I’ve not played well the last three of four weeks, but it was nice to be home last week and to prepare for this four event stint, which is going to be a bit of a slog, but it will be good fun. I’ve not played in any of the tournaments before, but it looks as though they will be four good events.
“It is definitely going to be more of an exciting finish to the season, and similar to what is being done on The European Tour, so it is cool to come to places like China, Oman and Dubai. It is a new experience for me being here this week, and so will Oman, and it is nice to come to these new places and to be playing for bigger purses as well.
“My own game feels a bit better though after the past few weeks, I did some good preparation last week, and stopped off in Dubai on my way over here. I did some good work there, so it is feeling much better.
“I haven’t really thought too much about finishing in the top 15 as yet, because although there are only four tournaments left, there is still quite a long way to go and a lot can change within the blink of an eye. If you have one good tournament it could be all over, or you might have to fight right until the end, but either way it is going to be exciting.”
Henry is one of the highest ranked names in a 27 strong group from the United Kingdom, encompassing five Scots, two that hail from Wales and 20 players from England.
Oliver Farr is the highest placed of those on the season-long list at 11th, with the Turkish Airlines Challenge winner still not assured of his place on next year’s European Tour.
Fellow Welshman Rhys Davies might only be at 51st on the Rankings, but with a first prize of €44,416 up for grabs this week, a win at Chongqing Poly Golf Club would be enough to see anyone teeing it up inside the top 88 places still move into a graduating spot if results were to go their way.
