Wednesday, 18 February 2009 Michael Hoey It’s a measure of how successful the European Tour has become that rising stars such as Camillo Villegas
and Anthony Kim are queuing up to join in. But the downside is that players such as Ulster’s Michael Hoey and Jonny Caldwell are finding it tough just to make it into the fields. Last week, for example, Hoey was the fourth reserve for the Maybank Malaysian Open and there weren’t enough withdrawals from players in the draw for him to play. Instead, he took himself back to South Africa and earned himself 16,695 rand (£1,192) by finishing 40th in the Vodacom Championship which was won by Swede Anders Hanson.
That brought Hoey up to seventh place on the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit, but sadly for him, that money doesn’t count on the Road to Dubai.