Rookie Wonder

History points to the second year in the pro ranks generally being tougher than the first. Matti Schmid is up for the challenge.

Things turned out pretty well the last time a German won Sir Henry Cotton Rookie-of-the-Year honours on the DP World Tour.

Matti Schmid, the freshlyminted 2021 recipient, certainly wouldn’t mind a career mirroring that of Ryder Cupper Martin Kaymer who has kicked on from his breakout year on the then European Tour in 2007 to capture two majors, a Players Championship, the WGC-HSBC Champions and, at last count, eight regular season DP World Tour titles.

Three of those were achieved at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship where UAE fans are likely to get their first decent look at 24-year-old Schmid. The venue for the $8 million Rolex Series event might be different this time with the shift to from Abu Dhabi G.C. to Yas Links but the focus on Schmid, who finished T-23 in the truncated seasonopening Joburg Masters in late November, will be no less intense.

Schmid rose to prominence by winning the Silver Medal as leading amateur at the 149th Open Championship in July before turning professional immediately after his T-59 finish at Royal St George’s. Within just seven appearances as a pro, he’d secured his DP World Tour card for 2022.

After making the cut in his first two starts, he highlighted his undoubted talent by finishing runner-up by three strokes to Kristoffer Broberg at the Dutch Open in September.

A top-10 finish at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and a T-11 at the Mallorca Golf Open rubber-stamped his membership, Schmid eventually finishing 114th in the final Race to Dubai Rankings.

“To win the Silver Medal at The Open Championship was a very special achievement but going out into the professional ranks is a different challenge. I think that I am capable to compete at the very highest level which gives me the confidence for the future,” said Schmid, who also claimed a top 15 finish as an amateur at the BMW International Open in June.

“To secure my card on the DP World Tour in just seven starts is something I am proud of and to win this award is just a wonderful bonus and a nice reward for the hard work I have put in. It was a very intense year, but I am delighted with my start to life as a professional.” — kent gray

“It was a very intense year, but I am delighted with my start to life as a professional.”

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