'It's been one hell of a year' - Scottish golfer on ending his injury nightmare with welcome win

The 27-year-old from Edinburgh beat Michael Stewart at the third extra hole in a play-off to claim the Macdonald Spey Valley Masters presented by Novellus in Aviemore.

The victory, which was worth £4,175, came in only Cantley’s fourth event since being hit with an injury that left him worrying about his career at one point.

“It’s been one hell of a year - not the year I was hoping for, that’s for sure,” he told The Scotsman. “My injury issues started in late February/early March, when I had a wee niggle and didn’t think anything of it then, all of a sudden, I was playing with the lads one day and had a massive shooting pain up my side and up into my back.

“I saw numerous physios as I tried to figure out what was going on and I was back and forth quite a bit without making any progress for a few months. When the season started, I was still nowhere nearer getting to the bottom of it.

‘It’s like a minefield at times’

“Then (fellow Tartan Pro Tour player) Graeme Robertson, thankfully, recommended a physio for me to go and see and I started working with this guy and began to notice results fairly quickly compared to the other guys I had been seeing.

“It was really good to find this guy. He’s called Marcus Rae and is from Burntisland. He’s been really good and seems to be really switched on. I feel you go to a lot of these guys and they all have different opinions. It’s like a minefield at times.

“I am feeling okay now. It’s not 100 per cent. When I am playing, I still hit the odd shot, especially the ones you need to get steep into, that are a bit nervy, but, even if I do feel a bit of pain, it doesn’t stay and that is the main thing.

“It’s just a case of continuing to do what I have been doing in terms of the training plan I’ve got and just chip away at it, but at least I am back playing again, which is the main thing and it is fairly pain-free.”

Cantley followed opening rounds of 67-68 with a closing 73 to finish on 12 under, which was matched by Stewart as he signed off with a 68 after earlier scores of 71-69. Cantley then came out on top in a sudden-death shoot-out when he rolled in a ten-footer for birdie at the third extra hole.

“It’s almost like a life change,” he added. “It definitely gave me a new perspective on how much your health is valued as it was quite scary at one point when you realise you have done this your whole life and the thought of it being stripped away completely is not nice.

“Okay, it maybe wasn’t quite looking like that, but that’s how it was kind of feeling and I thought ‘jeez, what would I do without golf?’

“I am fairly hard on myself anyway but, when I came back, I said to myself ‘take it easy’ and just go and enjoy being out there playing and accept that hitting a bad shot isn’t the end of the world.

“I think a new perspective is nice at times and, in this instance, it has put things into a wee bit sense of reality, which is definitely a good thing for me.”

Liam Johnston and Rory Franssen are leading the race for two HotelPlanner Tour events, with Cantley sitting 19th heading into next week’s St Andrews Classic presented by Fugro.

‘I’m looking for sponsors to keep pursuing the dream’

“There’s still four events left and, if you win three times in a season, then you go straight on to the HotelPlanner Tour, so it’s not over yet as far as I am concerned,” he insisted. “Is it realistic? Probably not. But you never know in this game as you can catch fire, as Rhys Thompson did a couple of years ago when he won a couple on the bounce.

“This year has been a write-off for me with the injury. It is a case of looking for sponsors to try and keep going next year and pursue the dream and hopefully get my hands on one of those cards and progress up the ladder.”