Aaron Rai is looking to cement his place in the top 15 on the 2016 Road to Oman with a strong showing at the Foshan Open in one of the final events on the European Challenge Tour this season.
The Englishman has forged a reputation as one of the most consistent performers on Europe’s top developmental tour this year, after amassing ten top-25 finishes and only three missed cuts in 19 starts during the current campaign.
The Challenge Tour rookie, who finished in the top five on the satellite EuroPro Tour to earn a card for the 2016 Road to Oman, has been pleased with his progress this season, but believes he has not yet played his best golf over four consecutive rounds.
With the race for a European Tour card starting to heat up, the 21 year old is hoping he can produce his best performance of the campaign in one of the three lucrative events left on the Challenge Tour calendar.
“I am very much looking forward to Foshan as it is one of the big three tournaments that are left,” said Rai, who currently sits in 15th place in the Road to Oman Rankings.
“You just have to prepare as well as you can and just focus on playing the game and the golf you need to put yourself in contention. Hopefully there are three exciting weeks ahead, and we will see what happens over the coming weeks.
“It has been a steady year so far and it has been pretty consistent overall. It maybe would have been nice to have put four good rounds together, but overall I think it has been a very good debut season for me on the Challenge Tour.
“I think the top 15 is now the focus for everyone at this point in the season, and with the events being the way they are everyone has got an opportunity to be up there. You have to just try and play your game and not focus on what is going on around you too much – which is easier said then done.”
The young Englishman almost didn’t manage to make the trip to the Far East, and it was only after his father dashed into Rome while he was playing at the Terre dei Consoli Open that Rai was able to secure a visa for China at the eleventh hour.
“I got to Italy on Wednesday two weeks ago and was on the putting green with Nick Cullen when I asked him about the visa for China and slowly I realised I didn’t have one,” he said.
“It was a bit of a rush, and we had to fill out the application forms and have the information ready for my Dad to run into the Chinese Embassy in Rome the next day. Thankfully they managed to sort it all out very quickly and I am able to spend two weeks here.”
