Well it’s been another busy month and a bit of golf in Japan.

After a slow start I have found some form and
set myself up well for the next run of events. 

I feel I’m starting to find my feet up there so hopefully there are some
good results to come.

The first
event was the ISPS Handa Invitational and a number of top US Tour players came
down to play including Jason Dufner, Ian Poulter and Charl Schwartzel. 

It was a tight course but my game felt in good
shape on the practice days. I played well on day one but didn’t convert my
chances for a 1-under round. 

That left
me only four shots out of the lead but being one of the last groups on Friday
meant I copped the worst of the rain. 

I
battled hard all day but hit a ball out of bounds on the last hole and missed
the cut by two. 

This was extremely
disappointing but I had to pick myself up quickly for the following events.

The tour
then moved up to Hokkaido in the North Island of Japan and a beautiful
place. 

The Sega Sammy Invitational was
played around a long course with some severely sloping greens. 

As had been the case for most of the year to
date I played well but didn’t put the score on the board for the first 54 holes
and found myself in a tie for 51^st. 

After hitting a ball in the water on the 7th I saw I had dropped to 60^th
place and said enough was enough.  It was
time to start playing like I knew I could. 

Five-under for the last 11 holes moved me up into a tie for 29^th
and finally I had some good momentum. 

I
was able to take this momentum into the next event in Kobe where I followed up
a 2-under par first round with a 7-under 64 to sit in a tie for 6^th
place heading into the weekend. 

It was
nice to finally be in contention having not been there all year. 

I played solidly over the weekend with two
rounds of 68 to finish in a tied for 8^th place. 

This was as great relief and gave me a big
lift in the re-rank which would follow the Fukushima Open.

After a
week at home it was then back to Japan for the Fukushima Open. 

This would be the last event before they
re-rank all the players from tour school and being in the top-20 of that
re-rank would be critical. 

I had moved
up to 9^th so I was comfortable but wanted to make the most of some
good form. 

I played well again for
rounds of 70, 67, 69 and 66, which left me in a tie for 13^th.  

The scoring of the field was incredible and
showed the quality of  the players in
Japan. 

Whilst conditions were soft the
scores were still lower than I expected given the extremely hot and humid
conditions.

It is now
the mid-season break in Japan so it is a good time to have a little break
before it all starts up again. 

I will
have to be on form as we only have five more events before the next re-rank. 

This is a tough one to get through as the
fields reduce in size so I will have to be in the top-10 to have any chance of
getting into the late season events. 

I
will also miss one event when I go back to defend the KPGA in August. 

My form is good though and I am confident I
can get myself in contention and hopefully snare a win.

So my
schedule for the next run of events begins with the Queensland Open. 

I wasn’t going to play this week but might as
well get out of the Melbourne winter when I can and get some good practice
under my belt. 

It is then off to Korea
for the KPGA followed by the Fujisankei Classic and ANA open in Japan.

Related links

Results / Fukushima Open
Results / MUSEE PLATINUM Open
Results / SEGA SAMMY Cup 
Results / ISPS HANDA Global Cup