Maybe it is the warm weather — or just being home, but my friend and Canadian resident Alan McLean is playing his second strong week on the South African Tour in events that are co-sanctioned by the European Tour. Last week, Alan made the cut on the number and finished in 8th. This week he is tied for 8th after the first round.
All of this is fascinating, considering Alan is on pace in a handful of events to make more money than he did in all of 2004 when he was a regular on the European Tour. I spoke with Alan a couple of weeks back and the plan is to try to play his way into regular status on the European Tour, as opposed to struggling to find places to play in North America. That said, he’s maintaining his residence in London, Ont., where his wife and daughter are.
The leaderboard for the South African Airways Open is here. Alan’s card is here. The story I wrote for the National Post on Alan’s struggles on the Nationwide Tour in 2005 can be found on Ontgolf.ca.
Note: Alan shot 68 in the second round and sits in 10th spot.
I see Alan made the cut to finish in tied 24th on 9 under for a prize of €10,100. That’s a fantastic start and puts his earnings at €67,621 after three events. Amazing, like you say, just a few euros short of what he earnt from 25 events on the European Tour in 2004. I will keep my eye out for him. Though English myself, I support all the Scotish golfers through and through. Its the least I can do having found golfing heaven in Fife. I assume he will fly out in January for the Joburg Open.