Golf: Gavin raring to get back on the greens in Europe

PETALING JAYA: Malaysian top golfer Gavin Kyle Green’s return to top-class competitive play could be almost exactly two months away.

The European Tour is reportedly set to recommence with a ground-breaking United Kingdom swing over a five-week stretch, starting with the British Masters from July 23-26.

Of the five events, the US$2.5mil (RM10.9mil) Masters, which will be held at the Close House in Newcastle, is the only tournament originally in the disrupted European Tour schedule.

According to British daily The Telegraph, there will be four newly-created events taking place at the Forest of Arden in Birmingham, Hanbury Manor in Hertfordshire and Celtic Manor in Wales (two meets), with each carrying a prize fund of €1mil (RM4.75mil).

These one-off emergency tournaments are intentionally held at courses with large hotels on site so players can be quarantined. All the events will be staged behind closed doors.

The European Tour is in the midst of finalising the details and will make an official announcement this week.

The news will surely come as a relief to Gavin who has seen as many as 21 European Tour events, including Malaysia’s Maybank Championship (April 12-15), being cancelled or postponed.

The lone Malaysian representative on the Tour last competed at the Qatar Masters in early March.

He enjoyed a superb start to the season and was ranked 17th in the Race to Dubai after finishing no poorer than top 30 in all his six starts before the season was halted.

Gavin should have no problem returning in competitive shape as he had already resumed training since early this month after golf courses were allowed to reopen.

However, his participation will still be subject to the travel restrictions by the government.