Jake Roos is chasing a third European Challenge Tour victory of the season and instant graduation to The European Tour at this week’s Swiss Challenge presented by Association Suisse de Golf, and the South African is in ebullient mood on his return to action.
The 33 year old enjoyed a week back in his native country following his second win of the season at the Aegean Airlines Challenge Tour by Hartl Resort two weeks ago, and – like Germany’s Moritz Lampert – is just one victory away from a career-changing third of the season.
Reflecting on an incredible season, which he began without any status on the Challenge Tour before winning the Barclays Kenya Open on an invite, Roos is delighted with how everything has worked out for him and admits his whole life plans may well have changed in the space of a few months.
“It was awesome to win again in Germany,” said the Pretoria-born player, who won six times on the Sunshine Tour before making the breakthrough on Europe’s second tier.
“I suppose I got a little more comfortable on the Challenge Tour but still there are so many good players out here, anything can happen any week so it was just nice to be in contention and in the end it went my way so I’m very grateful.
“It’s looking good for me to be on The European Tour next year right now, with the money I have on the Rankings, so it’s been an incredible journey.
“In Kenya, I didn’t even have a category anywhere in Europe so that gave me the chance to come over here and now suddenly I'm thinking more towards The European Tour, so the steps have come quite quickly.
“I've always wanted to play overseas and to finally have a proper chance to pick my tournaments on the schedule is great, I'm trying to take advantage of that.
“It’s difficult because my family and I still live in South Africa so there’s a lot of travelling involved. Ideally I’d like to base myself in Europe in future.
“I'm just trying to play some European Tour events this season too to try and get a feel for how it is out there and see some of the courses and that will help me for next year.”
Roos played this event in 2010 and 2011 and knows the Golf Sempachersee course well. Having made the cut both times, he enjoys playing this lay-out and with the extra confidence he has gained on the Challenge Tour, he is confident that he can challenge this time around and possibly even claim that third victory.
“If a third win happens it would be great,” he said. “But there are so many good players out here, you just have to play and if you have a chance at the end, great. But you can’t think about winning before a tournament because there is so much golf to be played.
“I just have to try and get in contention and see what happens so I’ll just try to execute my game plan as best as I can.
“The game is feeling good, I'm hitting it solid and putting nicely. I've played here before and I like it. It’s a good one for me.
“I like the course. It’s quite wet this week, although the forecast is dry. You have to keep it in play because there is a bit of rough so it’s the type of golf course I like where it’s not that long but you have to put it in the right places.”
