Richard Bland proving patience pays off after surging to top of US Open leaderboard

I’ve been driving the ball well for five, six weeks now, which is the cornerstone if you’re going to put a fight up for a U.S.

But I just think every kind of sportsman, sportswoman, they have that never-die or that never-quit attitude, no matter whether it’s golf or it’s tennis or it’s boxing, whatever it is.

He lost his European Tour card three times, as recently as 2018 when he went back to the European Challenge Tour at age 46.

“When times got tough and I lost my card two or three times, I think, ‘What am I going to do, go and get an office job?’ I’m not that intelligent, I’m afraid.

“I think it came as a surprise to everybody that it took him so long to win.

“You look at what Phil , it gives him hope, and it also gives me hope to play for a long, long time, and I think that’s really inspirational.

It also sent him to his fourth major — he missed cuts at the 1998 Open Championship and 2009 U.S.

“You know, in the qualifyings that we have in Europe, I think I’ve lost in a playoff four times for this, for a U.S.

And the European Tour player “with a few weekends off” won’t miss this one — even if he isn’t a household name and doesn’t have the widely known sponsorships that other players have.

“But as it all sunk in, I think it was just more satisfaction than anything that I kind of got what I’ve always wanted.

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