74 ISSUE 367 TODAYSGOLFER.CO.UK
arriving, getting your own car for the week
and being put up in a nice house.
“It was good to play a practice round on
Tuesday with Rory as well. He’d won there
twice before and it was good to see how he
approached things and that helped me relax.
The course was seriously tough, but I loved
the whole week including the loud, rowdy
crowds.”
It was a world away from pitching up at
Bowood G&CC as an enthusiastic 12-year-
old, playing alongside Matt Fitzpatrick in the
2013 Walker Cup and excelling on the mini
tours. There’s no doubt Smith has served his
apprenticeship, and he admits he has
benefited big-time from all of those past
experiences.
“Those couple of years on the minor tours
definitely gave me the confidence, teaching
me how to win. The plan has been to
continue what we’ve been doing and not to
try and fix things that aren’t broken, but just
to keep it simple and work on the simple
things.
“The Walker Cup was awesome, even
though I didn’t get a point in my two games- it was the first time I’d seen such crowds
and was a good learning curve too because
we looked back at the week and knew we
had to change a few things swing-wise. So it
was probably a good thing I didn’t perform at
my best there!
“Having a year on the EuroPro and
Challenge Tours set me up for this year on
the European Tour; they’re great stamping
grounds. The Challenge Tour especially gets
you travelling the world and living out of a
suitcase, playing week in and week out and
just getting used to the pressures of playing
for large sums of money and to the crowds
and TV cameras.”
Smith is very much a local hero down at
Bowood. He lived just outside the gates and
walked there from school to see his long-
time coach (he’s still working with him)
Simon Shanks.
“There are a lot of Bowood members who
have supported me financially when I
needed it just before I turned pro and even
early in my pro career, so obviously I owe
them a lot, while the club have looked after
me really well membership-wise and with
access to all the facilities.
“But really everything is down to my
parents who sacrificed so much – mum was
doing two jobs at one point and they also
down-sized the house so they could help me
out financially”
Smith
campaign l h ’ d h f
secure th R k f h Y d b f
turning h 20 8
On his radar? The Ryder Cup,
Major Championships,
tackling the PGA Tour
and climbing the world
rankings.
“My ma b
is to get t ld N 1
and sayin h I h k
I’m being l
Making th C
team is g b
tough ask b I k
I’ve got a A
for Majors h ’ h
everyone d
I’m no diff ”SCRAMBLING
Another crucial aspect in any golfer’s
armoury: the ability to recover and
get up and down from tricky
situations to register par or better is
absolutely critical and once again
Jordan comes up trumps in this area.The chip & run
Say you’re 30 yards in front of the
green and need to execute this shot.
For me, it’s all about keeping
everything in a triangle starting, with
the ball position pretty central and
your weight a bit more on the left
side.Then it’s a case of just making sure
you don’t hinge your wrists in the
takeaway and ensuring you keep
everything in a nice neat
triangle... it’s the same length
on the finish on the way
through.PLAY THE JORDAN SMITH WAY
%: 61.1
Ave Spr: 3.2
Ave missed GIR: 5
Total missed GIR: 424
Total scrambles: 259
Rounds: 80INTERVIEW