In conversation with Mark Roe

LAST October Mark Roe said goodbye to the European Tour. Most players making one final, emotional appearance usually sign off on a Friday after another score in the high 70s and a predictable missed cut.

For Roe, as it has been throughout most of his time on the tour, it was different.

A superb five-under 67 over the Old Course at St Andrews brought the curtain down on a 21-year playing career. No bogeys and five birdies on the card, including one at the famous 18th. So why stop now?

"I still adore the game and I am still passionate but I've just fallen out of love with the travelling and as you get older there's a reluctance to leave the kids," he said.

"The decision was a few years in coming. I knew I wasn't finishing because I couldn't play any more, I was finishing because an element of desire had gone out of it, the element of wanting to go through the pressure, to do the work and stand on the range and also that the European Tour has become a world tour. If you want to play the tour and do it properly you have to be prepared to travel and I didn't want to do that any more.

"It was a wonderful way to finish, my wife and children had flown up for the weekend and it was the girls' birthday on the Friday. I was so determined to make the cut and finish off at St Andrews, which has always been my favourite course in the world. Everything in my mind was right for that moment."

After being such a feature, and one of the most popular players on the European Tour,­ Roe made his debut at the Tunisian Open as a 22-year-old in 1985 where he collected £853 for a share of 16th spot there were a few voices in the Yorkshireman's ear about whether it was the right time to hang up the clubs.

"Just about everyone tried. They all said we're going to miss you and it won't be as much fun any more. Guys like Thomas Bjorn came up and gave me a massive hug as well as Lee Westwood and Padraig Harrington. I was incredibly touched by their reaction."

Speaking of fun, this is the player who is reported to have hit exploding golf balls over the front nine at Muirfield. The back nine was played with a paper bag on his head.

With an autobiography in mind, Roe declined to expand on a number of practical jokes played over the years though he did shed a little light on an incident with a fellow tour pro.

"I did once throw a whole bowl of spaghetti over Russell Claydon, who was the biggest player on tour. Everyone thought it was incredibly brave as he was still weighing in at somewhere around 20 stone at the time but Russell and I were very good friends and he had obviously instigated it in some way."

With obvious delight, Roe added: "It wasn't just a tipping motion either, but a full athletic throw. Let's just say there was a little bit of debris on the neighbouring tables."

And what of the new breed of jokers?

"There are a few guys out there with great senses of humour. That's the thing about the European Tour, it always produces characters, not faceless automaton, mechanical golfers. I didn't want to be just a stereotype, one-dimensional character who went to the range and then back to the hotel.

"Henrik Stenson has a lovely sense of humour and is a sneaky little prankster. Ian Poulter's wonderful for the game of golf, both for his flamboyant dress sense and his sense of humour.

"There are characters out there, but just what level they take the pranks to I don't know. I achieved a little bit as a player and had a great time doing it. I reckon I brought a few smiles to people's faces, not to mention a few frowns from those in authoritarian places, but I just tried to have fun."

As well as having a giggle along the way, Roe collected three European Tour wins and represented England three times in the World Cup and once in the Dunhill Cup.
In 1989 he beat Jose Maria Olazabal, Colin Montgomerie and Gordon Brand Jr by a shot to win the Catalan Open, overcame 11 Major champions at the Lancome in 1992 and landed the oldest continental trophy, the French Open, at Le Golf National in 1993.

For his country he played Greg Norman around St Andrews in the quarter-finals of the Dunhill Cup before losing to Tom Kite by a single shot.

Sadly for Roe his most successful season came in a non-Ryder-Cup year in 1994, when he finished ninth on the Order of Merit. That apart, Roe was overlooked for a wildcard when inside the top 30 in 1989 and 1993.

"I was a little bit disappointed and it is a slight regret. I felt like I had a chance of being picked but they went for someone with more experience."

However, one afternoon in Georgia 11 years ago would be difficult to improve upon.

After finishing as the leading European at the US Open at Shinnecock in 1995, Roe qualified for the following year's Masters.

Having never played the legendary Augusta course he arrived on the Sunday before the week of the tournament and managed to grab himself a very special two-ball.

"As a boy I always dreamed of playing Augusta. I watched it every year and it always heralded the start of the season and the first round I played there was with Seve Ballesteros.

"When you sit down and look back on your career, moments like that are incredibly special.

"They are the sort of things you can't even dream of as a boy, to play on that Sunday with Seve was an astonishing thing to do and a wonderful, wonderful moment."

Needless to say there have been a few less wonderful moments, such as accidents and injuries, during Roe's career. He took up the game while convalescing from a perforated eardrum sustained as a high school diving champion and was hit on the head by an amateur playing another hole at the English Open in 1995.

Then in 1999 he tore ligaments in two fingers while grabbing for his springer spaniel's collar and ended up spending the rest of that season and the whole of the next on the sidelines.

He returned in 2001, but was stung on the wrist by a wasp towards the end of his first-round 66 at the Lancome Trophy. The Friday was spent with his left hand held high above his head to prevent the poison spreading as another 66 was compiled before slipping back over the weekend.

But what Roe is best remembered for is not a freak accident or a dramatic tour win. He will always be associated with his disqualification at the Open Championship at Royal St George's in 2003.

Partnered with Jesper Parnevik on the Saturday, he did something that he has never done before or since. The pair forgot to exchange their scorecards, rendering Roe's sublime 67 useless.

The week started slowly with a 77 but a level-par effort on day two moved him up to a share of 28th and the 67 would have left him just two back of Bjorn and in a final-day twoball with none other than Tiger Woods.

How often does he think about what might have been?

"Probably every day. The thought might come into my head or something reminds me of it. It's an ever-present part of my career really.

"I still have the scorecards in my briefcase and managed to get the R and A to send them to me so I can show the kids when they're older. Yes, I wonder what would have happened that day coming off a 67 and I felt a little robbed of my dreams at the time but I'm a great traditionalist and I always think the rules of golf are there to protect the game.

"There's no point kicking chairs over in the scorers' hut. It was my mistake, I didn't change my scorecard with Jesper on the first tee."

Roe has now swapped the sticks for the microphone and is back in tandem with his room-mate of 10 years and godfather to his two daughters Robert Lee, on Sky Sports' Golf Night where he will be involved as an analyst and put together features on the stars of the tour. The clubs will come out again though for the French Open, where he is eligible until he reaches 50, as well as for a dedicated trick-shot programme.

"When I finished I didn't know exactly what would come my way and fortunately shortly after the Dunhill I was able to talk with several people and Sky came up with a wonderful package for me.

"I am very excited about the future. I don't want to lose touch with the world of golf and now I will still get to see some old friends."

As has been the case ever since Roe stepped out in Tunisia back in 1985, there are likely to be a few laughs in the offing.