TOUR: Marc Warren exclusive

SPEND any time in the company of Marc Warren and you quickly realise that he has very clear goals: winning more tournaments, improving his world ranking, playing in the Majors and making it into this year’s Ryder Cup team – but not necessarily in that order.

You could say that he shares these goals with the other 99.9 per cent of European professionals currently plying their trade on both the European and PGA Tours. So what is so different about this extremely affable Scot?

Well, if you have followed Warren’s career to date you will realise that he is anything but predictable and can make the seemingly impossible possible.

In just three years he has gone from being a Challenge Tour also ran to seeing off some of the world’s best players in the Omega Mission Hills World Cup alongside countryman Colin Montgomerie.

Along the way he has topped the Challenge Tour rankings, was the European Tour’s Rookie of the Year, – thanks to his maiden title at the Scandinavian Masters, followed by a win in front of his home crowd in the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles – and featured in the Seve Trophy.

He has also made no more than 12 cuts each year in the last two seasons – so you can see that Warren is consistently inconsistent.

That is something the 27-year-old is attempting to change, with some help from the man who helped to turn things around – Bob Torrance.

“All of a sudden something clicked when I started working with Bob in 2005,” said Warren. “He’s been a massive influence on my career, the record I’ve had while I’ve been working with him speaks for itself.

“He’s just made things a lot more simple, which has put me onto a different plain. That’s also made my mind a bit stronger as well. When I practise I’m hitting the ball like I’ve never done before, so that has given me more confidence because I’m seeing improvements all the time.”

These improvements have lead to a couple of landmark moments in the young Scot’s career to date, namely the World Cup and the victory at Gleneagles.

“To win the World Cup was a massive achievement, because to play with a legend like Colin Montgomerie and beat the Americans in a play-off was great fun and something that I’ll cherish for the rest of my life.

“But I’d probably put the win at Gleneagles on an equal footing because it was so close to home and the way I won it. I knew I had to make a birdie four at the last to get into the play-off. I hit driver to the perfect position in the fairway and then a driver off the deck that just missed right of the green. But I got up and down and then came through the play-off against Simon Wakefield.”

Warren isn’t consumed by the past though and like any other tour pro constantly thinks about the weeks, months and years ahead.“Getting into the top 50 in the world rankings is a big thing for me.
What I’ve done in the last couple of years has been good, but my ranking hasn’t really shown what my golf can do,” he said.

“To make that breakthrough I need to be consistently better and that’s what I need to work on.
“I’m looking to target the bigger events, obviously the PGA at Wentworth, the European Open, Scottish Open at Loch Lomond – events that are more in the middle of the year – and If I play well I can rack up some serious points, which is something I need to do if I want to make the Ryder Cup side and improve my ranking. Those tournaments carry more points.

“Something else I hope to put right this year is playing in my first Major. They are the biggest individual events you can play in and obviously it’s been disappointing not to play in one because I twice missed out by the one shot to get into the US Open and The Open.”

Without a doubt, more than anything else it is the latter that Warren would love to line up in. And having served his apprenticeship on the amateur circuit playing some of the best links courses the British Isles can offer, it is also the one he would feel most comfortable in.

“I think experience is king and the more you do something, the more you learn from it and the better you can be at it. I think my experience of all the amateur events would stand me in good stead.

“I know how to play links golf so in terms of the Majors I think The Open would be the biggest one.
“I love links golf because although the course is the same everyday, it can play completely different in a morning or afternoon. I think it’s great fun to play, you have to use your imagination all the time. You can’t just stand there and hit the ball, you’ve got manoeuvre it around the golf course.”
As you can see, Warren has plenty of boxes to tick throughout this summer, but one other thing still remains to be addressed - the Ryder Cup.

As things stand, the Scot has a mountain to climb if he wants to make it onto Nick Faldo’s team at Valhalla in September, but Warren is adamant it is something he has to work onto his CV at some stage in his career.

“Outside of winning a Major, I guess, being part of a winning Ryder Cup side is right up there,” he said.

“I can’t imagine the amount of pressure you would be under and that’s something I would like to experience. For golf fans it’s the biggest event in the world, so it would be huge to play in.”

One thing that may stand Warren in good stead for September is that he has already received a wildcard pick from Ryder Cup captain Nick Faldo, albeit in last year’s Seve Trophy.

While Warren may be remembered in this event for the wrong reasons - he smashed a chandelier in his hotel bedroom with his five iron on the eve of the second day’s play while wearing only a bath towel - Faldo remembers the ‘impressive’ performance from the rookie who helped GB&I to a 16 1/2 - 11 1/2 victory.

However, Warren is realistic and doesn’t expect an invitation this time around.

“Even though I was part of that team, I’m pretty sure I’ll have to play my way in because its going to be difficult for Nick (Faldo) to pick a rookie. It looks like there’ll be a couple in the side anyway so maybe his picks will go to more experienced players.

“It’s certainly whetted my appetite and it was a great experience, it’s not very often you get the chance to play in an event like that.

It was a fun week, but obviously very competitive as well and tight all the way.”

“I think that if I play my way into the team I’ve got enough team experience behind me and I can use that to do well.”

The experience Warren speaks of is not only in the Seve Trophy, but also in the 2001 Walker Cup where he first came to the wider public’s attention for holing the winning putt and ensuring he was part of the first GB&I side in 79 years to retain the trophy, and on American soil.

“Yeah, it’s something that I’ve been through before and I wasn’t scared of it, I knew what it meant,” he added.

“The Walker Cup is so huge, it’s an event that an amateur can really cut their teeth on in preparation for professional golf, it’s a great event to be part of.”

With this experience under his belt you can’t help but think that Warren would make a perfect Ryder Cup player. It would also complete a romantic circle and the Scot could line up with three other members of that history making Walker Cup side also bidding to get to Valhalla.

He would love nothing more than to link up with Luke Donald, Nick Dougherty and Graeme McDowell, and, as we have found with Warren, you can always expect the unexpected.