Porter breaks cut voodoo at Masters
BY Anthony Powter | Australasian PGA Tour | 2008 Australian Masters | Round Two | 28 Nov 2008
Ewan Porter’s caddie will have some work this weekend at the Australian Masters in Melbourne. His boss made sure of that after finishing the second round at 3-under-par and well inside the expected 1-over-par cut.
Porter has not made the weekend of a tournament since June at the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic on the Nationwide Tour. By all accounts his efforts this season following his Moonah Classic win in February by an incredible seven shots, the third highest winning margin in Nationwide Tour history, have been disappointing.
Ewan Porter Audio Interview
“Coming off the last four or five months where I haven’t played a weekend, I kind of feel like I’m playing on band-aids a little,” said the 26-year-old this morning at Huntingdale.
It’s been a torrid season for Porter after gaining his two-year playing privileges on the Nationwide Tour with the win at Moonah. Since collecting the US$148,248 winners cheque, Porter has been in the money just five times, banked a modest US$10,875 and missed the cut in his last eleven starts.
To make things even worse, at the Nationwide Tour Championship, where there was not cut, Porter was disqualified for incorrectly signing his card after the second round.
“That was just a one off,” he says.
“It obviously was very disappointing as there was no cut but it’s a mistake that I will certainly not make again!”
Apart from not signing another card incorrectly, there are no certainties out there for Porter, yet plenty of options for the talented 26-year-old. Porter is a player who creates his own options, and that’s no more apparent than qualifying for The Open Championship from his last two attempts.
“I’m realistic about what I now aim for with my golfing career,” he says.
“I over-played this year and not having a home base certainly made it more difficult. Next year James [Nitties] and I will travel together and I’m certainly not playing more than three events in a row. I’m looking forward to another year playing the Nationwide to get my game back.”
And as to what Porter sees as needed to improve his game?
“I certainly need to hit it a lot straighter off the tee and a lot straighter in general. A lot of my problems were brought on by not trusting my golf swing and working on some things that didn’t needed to be worked on.”
“I’ve a different focus and my swing is getting there.”
As he walked off the 18th green after today’s second round Porter had a smile on his face as he made his way directly to the scoring hut, his card firmly in his hand.
When Porter reappeared some ten minutes later, having spent a little more time that usual signing his card, you could see the relief on his face.
“I’m realistic about what I now aim for with my golfing career,” said Porter.
“Everything happens for a reason and it’s great to be back home in front of friends playing familiar courses and most importantly, to be playing the weekend.”
