Sullivan: "There was about 25 in #SullysArmy last year but after winning it I think there's about 70 out here this week." #PortugalMasters pic.twitter.com/z6Fvvfy2SZ
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) October 19, 2016
Two years before that I’d started working with Jamie Gough, my coach. It just started clicking together in 2015. We’d been working hard on where we wanted to get with the ball flight, moving left and right. It felt like everything clicked into place and this year has felt like it’s coming back. You always strive for perfection and never get it, but you can still find something that’s good enough to go and shoot low scores. In 2016 and 2017, I tried to change things to get better, instead of maintaining what I had and trying to improve little things. I feel like I’m getting back to that.
I got to play in The Ryder Cup, the best golf tournament in the world. I’m gutted to be missing this one; once you play one you want to play them all. The experience at Hazeltine was unbelievable, with such a hostile home crowd. It was actually fun! I thrived off the aggression. In a weird way, it doesn’t get any better than that. It was my first one and, of course, I wanted to play every match, but you know that won’t happen. For any rookie going into it, I’d tell them that when they are called on to play, be ready.
Everybody who qualifies is a great golfer. You don’t make the team without being good. It’s about being mentally ready to go out there and do battle. It’s the one tournament where almost every shot has a consequence and that’s what makes it fun to watch and play. You can sense it. To have that pressure is something I loved. The course this year is set up well and America do look unbelievable on paper, but for the last 12 years we’ve done well and I think Europe might pip them.
It’s a great week to pick the brains of the likes of Henrik Stenson and Sergio Garcia.They’re two guys I hadn’t spent much time with, so chatting to these guys and picking up little nuggets is great. You’re rubbing shoulders with the best players in the world. The one thing with the European team rooms is the camaraderie is unbelievable. I love being in that team environment and that’s where we shine as a team. We’re not trying to be a team, we just are one. That’s where Europe have maybe edged the United States for so long.
My advice for the rookies would be ‘when you’re called upon, be ready’. Go into the week wanting to play five, but expecting to play one. Prepare well and be 100% when the call comes.
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