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By Joy Chakravarty
Ever since the European Tour made its comeback following the COVID-19 shutdown, players have reacted differently to the loneliness of the strict bio-bubble and the emptiness on the golf courses.

Stars such as Rory McIlroy and Paul Casey blamed the silence and the lack of energy from the lack of crowds for their struggles towards the latter half of the 2020 season. But one person who completely embraced the ‘new normal’ and thrived is England’s Laurie Canter.

The 31-year-old from Bath was ranked 579th in the world when action resumed on with the UK Swing in the last week of July. In the six months since then, Canter has climbed to 131st in the world. In that period, he finished runner-up twice – in Portugal and Italy – and was in contention at the DP World Tour Championship before finishing tied fifth.

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Canter once again hauled himself into the limelight at the OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic, where a four-under par 68 in Saturday’s third round took him to tied fourth place at 10-under par total.

So, what did Canter do differently during the shutdown that has helped him hit such a rich vein of form?

“I get asked that question a lot, but honestly, I don’t have a very good answer,” said Canter, who is making his debut in the ‘Major of the Middle East’ this week.

“It’s not like I practised any differently, or changed something. I do a few things differently now, like spending less time on the range and playing the golf course more.

“Every player will have a different formula that they’d like to go back to but for me, it is investing a bit more time in learning the golf course and developing shots rather than improving my technique, which I was spending a lot of time on without much success.”

READ MORE: Sunday’s OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic ‘Daily News’ is FREE here

It was a masterclass from Canter for the first 11 holes as he seemed to have birdie chances in each one of them but only managed convert on five occasions.  He then made three bogeys coming in.

“It’s just that I don’t feel very comfortable on the back nine of this golf course. I struggle with my tee shots on the 12th, 13th and 14th holes (all severe dogleg left). I am more of a fade player.

“I also struggled with the pace of the greens. But it was good to sign off with a birdie,” said Canter, who three-putted the 15th for a bogey after making a birdie on the 14th that would have gone 15-20 feet past the hole if it had not caught just enough of the cup to drop.

The Englishman said there was no frustration with all his near-misses and hopes his time will come soon.

“I am not frustrated now. I guess you can only find out at the end of your career what that moment meant at that time. It really has all been very good learning and all this will hopefully, somewhere down the line, stand me in good
stead.”

READ MORE:
OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic ‘Daily News’ preview edition
OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic ‘Daily News’ round 1 edition

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