Aug9 USPGA storm
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Audio Clip: Graeme Storm on his coach, getting tired and his expectations, now that he leads the USPGA Championship…
Graeme Storm was as shocked as anyone else when he finished with a 5-under-par 65 and the lead in the final major of the year. Walking into the Media Centre he stepped into the area where all the journalists gather, instead of going up the steps and onto the stage with the microphones. If nothing else, that showed how little he’s been in this position before.
Having achieved his debut win on the European Tour at the French Open earlier this year (when he came from five shots behind to win by a stroke in the final round) he is playing his 8th tournament in a row, and admits he is absolutely exhausted. A holiday in Las Vegas awaits next week. “Let’s hope I’ve got lots of money by then!”
If he stays at the top of the leaderboard he will have more money than he can spend in Vegas. His win in the French Open gave him enough cash to tell his wife she could ‘retire’ from her work as a ballet teacher.
The sensational start by the 29-year-old from Hartlepool is a Cinderella story and a half. When he lost his card a couple of years ago, he worked in a cake factory, earning £148 a week. “I wasn’t allowed to actually make the cakes,” he says, “I was cleaning the trays outside.”
He came into this week saying that making the cut was his only goal, and although he still says that is the case, he may need to raise his expectations, if he is leading tomorrow night.
The 1999 Amateur Champion, he had an illustrious amateur career, playing in the victorious Walker Cup side the same year. But, for whatever reason, his game evaporated a couple of years ago, and its been a long, hard road back.
A supporter of both Hartlepool and Liverpool Football Clubs, he made history with his mother when he played in the Masters, becoming the first player/caddie combination in the tournament’s history.
Tomorrow he is in the first paring out, at 7.30 a.m. local time, starting on the 10th tee. “That’s probably an advantage,” he says. “At least I won’t have time to think about where I am on the leaderboard.”
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