We haven’t heard a great deal from Richard Finch just recently, but I think we are going to hear a whole lot more very soon. Richard showed just what he is capable of again at the Avantha Masters in New Delhi with an extremely solid four rounds and runner up position behind Australian Andrew Dodt.

It may be no coincidence that a return to form has come alongside working with Pete Cowen. All the hard work he has done will surely get him back to the winning ways of two years ago.   It was great to see him burst into contention on Sunday and not back off.  That’s what champions are made of even when they have not been there for quite a while.

It was a great way to enter a month’s absence from the game when Richard will be dedicating himself to a fitness regime which will undoubtedly see him return all the stronger and ready for the challenges ahead.

Also high up the leaderboard in India was Darren Clarke and his top 10 will no doubt give him the encouragement he needs to continue climbing the world rankings.

Meanwhile in South Africa, Darren Fichardt led a huge ISM presence on the leaderboard at the Dimension Data Pro-Am. Darren birdied the last hole to win by one shot from fellow ISM stablemate Louis Oosthuizen with Branden Grace fourth and Anton Haig seventh.  Exceptionally well done all of you.

Now I’m in the desert in Tucson where Dove Mountain is the location for this week’s WGC Accenture Match Play.   We haven’t had a great record in this event since Darren Clarke won it a decade ago, but I have a feeling our luck is about to change, starting this week.

We have eight contenders in a field of 64 with both Chris Wood and Ross McGowan benefitting from the absences of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.

At least we are guaranteed a representative in the second round because Lee and Chris have been paired together when the tournament starts tomorrow.