A JOURNEYMAN from Chingford stands between the best players in the world and the richest prize in golf, and although Simon Khan’s pedigree bears absolutely no comparison to Tiger Woods, he may just possess as much determination as the other 15 put together.
The former Essex county player lives by a piece of great advice: if at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try again — and then again. Khan financed eight attempts at Qualifying School before he first won his Tour card with jobs ranging from taxi driving to pipe-fitting, with a spot of roofing and bar work thrown in.
And no sooner had Khan won his tour card in 2001 than he lost it — a season’s bounty of only about £22,000 meaning that he had to survive the torture of Qualifying School again — and he repeated the process a year later.
There have been golden moments to go with the graft of one of the tour’s slowest players. Khan secured a maiden victory at the 2004 Wales Open, in which he started his second round of 61 with a sequence of birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie, eagle, birdie, par, birdie, birdie to reach the turn in 27 shots. That he had spent much time practising rolling his putts over a 10p piece in his living room helped Khan to see off the challenge of Paul Casey on the Sunday.
Khan is at home at Wentworth. He qualified for the World Match Play by virtue of a second-place finish there to David Howell at the BMW Championship. If he gets the bit between his teeth, he sure as hell won’t give up easily.
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FACT FILE
Age: 34
Nationality: English
Wins: 1, the 2004 Celtic Manor Wales Open
Major wins: 0
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Major record in 2006: Masters: did not compete; US Open: missed cut; Open: tied 31st; US PGA: missed cut
World ranking: 81
How he qualified for World Match Play: By coming second at the BMW Championship and fourth at the Smurfit European Open
Previous WMP experience: None