Rushton treads with patience as he targets breakthrough victory

Erinvale Golf Club’s Matthew Rushton says while he would love to claim his breakthrough win on the Altron Big Easy Tour after coming close a few times already this season, the game of golf has taught him to stay patient when things don’t go his way.

Rushton has been in scintillating form on the Altron Big Easy Tour, missing just one cut while boasting four top-10s, a top-15 finish as well as the 21^st placing he secured in the second tournament of the season at Huddle Park Golf Club in June.

His last three outings on this circuit yielded finishes of fifth, sixth and fifth in what has been a remarkable run for the 27-year-old Rushton.

“There’s been a lot of solid golf this season,” said Rushton who is teeing it up in the seventh tournament of the season at ERPM Golf Club on Tuesday. “I have been enjoying the game again, which has been a nice change. Sometimes, you can get frustrated when things aren’t quite falling your way but taking a bit of time to do a bit of hard work, and dedicating yourself; it’s been rewarding.

“I know it’s cliché but I have to stay in the moment. You have to give this game the respect it deserves and you can’t always get caught up with results and birdies and all these things. I just have to take it one tournament at a time and hopefully soon, we will get that win.”

Rushton didn’t do well here last week when ERPM hosted the Blue Label Development Tour’s one-day tournament; shooting two-over to finish in a share of 24^th. He is eager to put that result behind him when he gets going in this 54-hole tournament, a tournament totally different from the one-day-only format.

“I didn’t do well in both the one-day tournaments so far,” Rushton admits. “I shot two-over in both events but in the normal 54-holes, I seem to be scoring consistently and scoring well. This is a new week, however, and hopefully, things will go my way.”

Rushton currently lies 12^th on the Order of Merit. The top 30 players on the Order of Merit after The Playoff – which is the next event after this – will qualify for The Final during which they will compete for R300 000 in prize money.

The Big Easy Tour was founded in 2011 with support from Ernie Els and counts current international star Christiaan Bezuidenhout amongst its former Order of Merit winners.