Rookie Nixon gets a chance to shine

GOLF: EUROPEAN Tour rookie Matthew Nixon gets the chance to showcase his talents on home territory next week when he competes in the Spirotech Open at Marriott Worsley Park.

The 22-year-old from Ashton-under-Lyne earned his card at the first attempt last winter and has since won more than 73,000 Euros, thanks to three top-30 finishes in 16 events.

He will play alongside his former coach and caddie Mark Smith in the first round on Tuesday. The Stamford professional guided Nixon through Tour School last November and worked as his bagman during the winter.

"He was a tremendous help and difficult to replace but I've recently appointed a lad from Wentworth and I feel settled with him," said the 2006 British Boys champion.

"I'm excited about being drawn with Mark even though we're first out," added Nixon, who is in a three ball which also includes Whitefield's Colin Maroney in the 36-hole £10,000 tournament to be concluded by a pro-am.

Nixon, whose stable-mate at Chubby Chandler's ISM group is newly-crowned Open champion Darren Clark, is in a 41-strong field also featuring Gary Wolsten-holme, another former Great Britain and Ireland international.

The world's most capped amateur turned professional three years ago at the age of 48 and made an immediate impact after joining the European Senior Tour in 2010, finishing third in the Travis Perkins Senior Masters before winning the Casa Serena Open on just his second appearance.

Wolstenholme played in six Walker Cups in his amateur career and is the all-time leading points scorer for Great Britain and Ireland, famously defeating Tiger Woods in 1995.