Nixon hopes to play his card right

EURO hopes: Matthew Nixon

Golf: ASHTON golf professional Matthew Nixon is determined to improve on last year’s first crack at the European Tour.

The 22-year-old performed superbly to earn his Tour card at the first attempt in 2011, but a slightly disappointing campaign saw him finish 183rd in the Race To Dubai money list, which meant another visit to the Tour Qualifying School.

Nixon (pictured) breezed through that event at the Catalunya Resort in Girona, Spain, to earn his 2012 ticket and now hopes to kick on.

Formerly a top amateur with a highest world ranking of 14th, Nixon won the 2006 British Boys Amateur Championship and continued his progress during his teenage years.

So far on the pro circuit in 2012, he has finished 47th in the Africa Open and 55th in the Joburg Open.

Nixon has greater ambitions than those midfield efforts, but is taking the positives from his start to 2012.

“At least that’s three successive events in which I have made the cut, if you take the last tournament of last year into account,” he said.

“I had a break at Christmas and was not playing much, so it was nice to play 72 holes in back-to-back tournaments. But although that is good, I would still have liked to have done a little better.

“My aim this year is to keep my card, which means next year I would be ranked higher and would be able to play in some of the bigger tournaments on the Tour.

“Last year I had some ups and downs and several missed cuts and, in the middle of the year, I was trying to do things which I couldn’t do.

“Now I am concentrating on what I do best and preparing myself properly for each event.”

Nixon’s failure to keep his Tour card automatically was a bitter disappointment, but he was determined to make amends on his second visit to the Qualifying School.

He said: “I didn’t want to go on the Challenge Tour (the next step down from the main European Tour) and a week before the event I started to play a lot better so when I got there I was quite relaxed.

“I set myself a target of finishing two-under-par for each round, which I did quite easily.

“I actually finished on 12-under and there was only one occasion on which I felt nervous over a shot.

“But I don’t want to have to qualify again, so the aim is to retain my card and be able to play in some of the top events.”

Next up for Nixon is the Avantha Masters at the DLF Golf and Country Club in New Delhi, India, on February 19.

The reason for the delay in resuming his Tour participation is the intervening trio of major events in Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Dubai.

“Many of the top players will not be playing in India, so that should let me in,” he said. “I hope that I can get in the bigger tournaments automatically by doing well on the Tour this year.”