(UKPA) – Apr 28, 2010

Five successive top-10 finishes have brought Oliver Fisher back from the wilderness, but to stay a European Tour regular this season the 21-year-old needs to keep the run going at the Spanish Open this week.

After a nightmare 2009 in which he missed 21 halfway cuts, lost his Tour card and then failed to survive the qualifying school, the Essex youngster has at last begun to head in the right direction again. Coach Pete Cowen, the man who helped Lee Westwood climb from outside the world’s top 250 to his current fourth spot, believes Fisher has the talent to go a lot higher than his current 189th.

But the big problem this year is how many chances he will get on the main circuit. “Because he didn’t make it through the school Ollie stays down the rankings this season and so isn’t guaranteed a start every week,” said Cowen.

It was only when he tied for fourth in Korea on Sunday that Fisher knew he had a spot in Seville under the rule that sees the top-10 finishers qualify for the following week’s tournament.

But he is not yet in the field for next week’s Italian Open and so it goes on.

Eighth in India, third in Kenya, second in Madeira and seventh in China in his four previous events show two things – Fisher has been clocking up the air miles, but he has also made it very worthwhile.

With over £230,000 banked he has probably done enough already to be sure of a full return to the circuit next year.

“At the start of the year I would have taken that,” said the player who in 2005 aged just 16 became the youngest Walker Cup cap. “Hopefully I can set some different goals now. I know the standard that I can play.

“It was a frustrating year for me last year, but it was just a matter of keep grinding it out and not giving up.”

Copyright © 2010 The Press Association. All rights reserved.

Source