This month, Chris Paisley makes another change and finds instant success in Denmark
After a disappointing British Masters, where I comfortably missed the cut, I had a week off to prepare for the Made in Denmark – one of my favourite events of the year and one where I have had some success in the past.
My driving has been really inconsistent of late, even though the rest of my game has been strong. With that in mind, I spent a morning with my coach Andrew Nicholson trying and get to the bottom of it. We found that my swing was fine, but my driver just wasn’t setup right for me. Among other things, there wasn’t enough spin on the ball, which makes it very difficult to drive the ball straight. After consulting the guys at Callaway, they sent out some new drivers and I began testing straight away. Eventually I found one that felt great and was much more forgiving. I felt ready to get back to form in Denmark!
After some delays and a sprint through Amsterdam airport, we barely made our connection and of course our luggage didn’t make it to Aalborg. Our suitcases arrived the next day but there was no sign of my clubs. A golfer’s nightmare!
Fortunately, the folks at Callaway came up trumps again and made me a whole new set. Footjoy even managed to find some Paisley-sized pro-SL shoes! The new clubs felt good and I wasn’t too stressed about missing my own. Without any warning my clubs turned up at 7am on Wednesday, about 30 minutes before I teed off in the pro am. My clubs going missing turned out to be a blessing; the new driver Callaway made up was even better than the one I had tested! It just goes to show, everything happens for a reason.
After a couple of poor swings in the first round, I really settled into the tournament and drove the ball the best I have in a long time. I have often struggled in left to right winds with my driver, but with this club I found I could hit a nice draw up against the wind, and barely missed a fairway doing so. It’s amazing how these things work out. My clubs going missing ended up being a good thing, along with finding a swing feeling, and playing at a venue I love.
I shot a bogey-free 65 in the final round to finish in a tie for fourth place – a huge boost of confidence and plenty of Race to Dubai points. The past few weeks are a great example of how fickle golf is, and that it is so important to see obstacles for what they are – so often they are there to show you the way forward.
