THREE YEARS ago Richard Bland kick-started his professional career with a high finish in the Scottish PGA Championship at Gleaneagles.
The 10,700 euros he pocketed for a share of 11th place was the biggest cheque the six-times Hampshire Open champion had earned after turning professional.
This week Bland is hoping the same event, now labelled the Diageo Championship, will have a similar effect on his season.
The reason is that so far Bland, the man who came so close to being 'rookie of the year' in 2002, is having a bad time of it.
He's 132nd in the order of merit with 47,000 euros (£33,000) banked, most of it from top-20 finishes in the ANZ Championship in Australia in February and the Dubai Desert Classic in March.
The 30-year-old Stoneham clubman's season has been clouded by 11 missed cuts and, considering he'll need to earn at least £120,000 to keep his card for 2004, you would imagine he has a finger hovering over the panic button.
But not so. Bland says: "I'm playing better than I'm scoring. If I can start holing a few more putts the results will come, I'm sure of it."
Bland came of age as a European tournament pro by finishing joint first in last year's Murphy's Irish Open at Fotah Island. He lost out to Soren Hansen in a play-off but it was a defining moment in the career of the man from Marchwood, Southampton.
It proved he could compete for the big prizes and, if you ask him now if he sees the remainder of this season as something of a survival mission, he snaps back: "Not at all. My goal coming into this year was to try and win a tournament. That's still my aim.
"Someone like Ian Poulter is an inspiration. Two weeks ago he was below me in the order of merit. Now he's sixth after winning at Celtic Manor and finishing second in the British Masters. It shows how quickly you can turn things round.
"This week's Scottish PGA has happy memories for me. I like the Gleneagles course. It suits my game and hopefully there I can put it all together and get a decent result.
"I'm disappointed with the season so far but certainly not downhearted. There are some good tournaments coming up for me, including the Irish Open next month - although it's not at Fotah Island which is a shame. But I've still got good memories of it.
"Then I'll try to qualify for The Open at Loch Lomond in July."
As Bland points out: "There's still a lot to play for."
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