Michael Lorenzo-Vera is hoping to continue his silent renaissance on the European Challenge Tour this week as the Frenchman eyes a first victory of an ever-improving season in his homeland at the Open Blue Green Cotes d`Armor Bretagne.
While compatriot Benjamin Hebert has rightly been under the spotlight after following victory at the Norwegian Challenge with a second place finish at the Rolex Trophy, Lorenzo-Vera has been quietly rebuilding his swing with a view to making a lasting impression on The European Tour this year.
Since a seventh place finish in Maderia in May, Lorenzo-Vera has seen the fruits of his labour consistently ripen with five finishes of 11thor better since then, the highlights of that run being a second place in the inaugural Azerbaijan Open as well as a tie for sixth at the Rolex Trophy. He is currently eight in the Rankings with seven events of the 2014 season remaining.
“I have never swung it this well in my life,” said Lorenzo-Vera, winner of the Challenge Tour Rankings in 2007. “Everything about the swing has been simplified and I am very comfortable with all of the technical aspects that I am trying to achieve.
“What can I say? I am playing good and have a new team around me which is working really well. I am working again with my brother, Franck, and (former Challenge Tour player) Benoit Teilleria on all aspects of my game since last September.
“We have really simplified everything and it makes it so easy for me to play my and we are starting to see the results of a good year’s work. I finally don’t feel like I am struggling to understand the swing – and it is a long time since I really felt that good and, as I said, I have never swung the club so well.
“It is no surprise where I am in the Rankings at the moment because I am n control of my game and with that comes some confidence which makes you relax and everything else so there are a lot of good things happening and I am very pleased with where we are.”
Lorenzo-Vera, and Hebert who, at seventh place in the current Rankings, is the highest Ranked Frenchman, will lead a 44-strong French Challenge at the stunning Golf Blue Green de Pléneuf Val André on the coast of Brittany.
“This is a good golf course we are playing this week and it looks like we have a very good weather forecast for the week which will mean the scoring should be very low thins week. If the weather is good and the wind is not too strong then there is not a lot to defend the course and I think you will have to aim for something like 20 under to be in contention if the conditions are like this.
“That is a good starting point anyway and I hope I can move towards that as it is great to be playing in France and I think you always want to do well when you play in your home country – there is definitely an extra motivation when you are playing at home.
Also in the field are many of the Challenge Tour’s most consistent and in-form players all of whom are looking to take advantage of perfect conditions over an at times breath-taking golf course to either cement their places in or make grand strides towards to the all-important top 15 in the Rankings.
Lorenzo-Vera is not taking his own place in the top 15 for granted, but such is his new, self-assured approach to the game, he is confident he will be a European Tour player come the end of the year. With that comes a new status and a new level of ambition – something the 29 year old from Biarritz is more than comfortable with having amassed €66,104 so far this season.
“The plan is to get over €80,000 as quickly as I can – as soon as I get past that I will start to prepare for The European Tour.,” he continued. “The biggest thing I need to work on after my card is safe is on the physical side. I need to get into the gym and build some core strength and muscle so that I can add a few yards to my game. I am confident that my new swing will not change – everything is in place for me to build on this foundation so it is a pretty exciting time."
