Calum Hill on coming close again on DP World Tour - and hitting another shank!

The 31-year-old is up to eighth in the Race to Dubai and also now sits 124th in the world rankings after recording back-to-back second-placed finishes.

It was a sore one when he bogeyed the last then lost out in a play-off won by German Freddy Schott in the Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship at Royal Golf Club a week past Sunday.

In contrast, Hill was delighted to finish as Patrick Reed’s closest challenger in the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters at Doha Golf Club on Sunday after picking up four birdies in the final five holes.

In earning just under £400,000 for the two efforts, the Scot has jumped eight spots in the Race to Dubai Rankings while he’s up 28 places in the updated world rankings.

“I feel that I’ve just continued some good work from the end of last year,” said the Kirkcaldy-born player who now lives in Crook of Devon and is attached to Gleneagles Hotel.

“I felt things took a turn maybe after the Irish Open and I feel I have just steadily progressed and it’s nice to come out at the start of this year with two good results.”

‘I think I did really well’

It was definitely a missed opportunity in Bahrain, but the man who landed his breakthrough win in the Cazoo Classic in 2021 before adding the Joburg Open last year is looking on the bright side.

“It was really good to be in that position on Saturday and Sunday,” he added. “I did a lot of things right and I did a couple of things wrong. It’s hard to manage everything at its best when you’ve not been in those situations regularly.

“You are kind of just learning as you go, so I think I did really well. It will prepare me well for that type of scenario and hope it’s not too far away. It’s just been a nice progression at the start of the year.”

Hill had a shank in the play-off in Bahrain before having another of the most-dreaded shots in golf at the sixth hole in the final round in Qatar.

“I’ve been known to have a shank every now and then throughout my entire career,” he admitted, smiling. “Typically, if I’m playing well for some reason, I tend to hosel a few.

‘I stuck in there’

“That one was in the rough, below my feet, caught the hosel straight up, and didn’t manage to save bogey. It was instantly, like, ‘how can you manage it after that?’ But I stuck in there.”

The DP World Tour takes a break this week before resuming next week with the Magical Kenya Open before the circuit heads to South Africa for a double-header, including Hill’s title defence in the Joburg Open.