Marcus Armitage is the epitome of anti-bullshit, there’s no one shot at a time and que sera sera, it’s more a blunt assessment of what can be a bloody hard occupation.
“This year’s been tough, you’re trying your hardest and you’re just not getting anywhere. You miss your family and your missus and they’re not getting the son or the partner that they signed up for because I’m just trapped in just trying my nuts off. It’s been hard.”
Armitage’s year has been spent on the Challenge Tour where he earned less than €15,000. Now, though, he has his European Tour card and his career is very much back on track after tying for 13th at Lumine.
To watch Armitage you would think that he belonged somewhere inside the world’s top 50 rather than here in Spain but them’s the breaks and he’s the last person to complain about anything.
“You’re trying to win a golf tournament and as long as you give 100 per cent to try and do that that’s all you can do. You can’t shy away from anything as you’ve chosen to play here this week, you can’t hide from any shot as you’ve put yourself here.
“I might look like I’m switched on but inside I’m going nuts. I’ve had a terrible year and I’ve been through some serious problems this year. I’ve just got back in touch with Duncan McCarthy of Underpin who has been my performance coach and he’s just the guy for me. I was bit jittery the first three days and we’ve been texting and I said I was going to try to be the calmest person out here. On Monday (when he shot a six-under 65) I only had two putts that didn’t hit the hole.”
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Another part of Armitage’s past, his caddie Gary Edwards, is also playing a huge part in his renaissance.
“Gary’s been on the tour for years and his dad was a great caddie. When I first got on the tour in 2016 he worked for me and I ended up sacking Gary, the other caddie was great but I was naïve and I wanted more and that was such a big mistake. I rang him before the Second Stage and asked if he would help, if he had said no I would have just brought a mate. We just gel, he’s so dry and there are a lot of jokes.”
The past couple of days Armitage’s phone has started buzzing again, something that hasn’t happened for a while.
“You have people texting who you haven’t heard from for the last eight months, that’s just the way it goes. People want to get in touch when things are going well. I’ve been here before, I missed out by a shot two years ago and I couldn’t afford to come last year.”
Mark will be at Lumine for the remainder of Q School. Keep up to speed with all the action on Twitter.
