RICHARD McEvoy says a change of coach has improved his game and he’s ready to launch his customary strong finish to the season – starting with a good showing at this week’s KLM Open in Holland.

The Thorpe Hall member starts the tournament today in 143rd place in the Race to Dubai rankings and needs to break into the top 115 by the end of the season to retain his European Tour playing card for next year.

And he says he’s playing well enough to do that.

“I’ve made the cut in the past couple of tournaments, but I’ve been making mistakes and not made the most of those good positions,” he said.

“I wasn’t helped with the weather last week, but that’s how it goes sometimes.

“But I feel my game is in the right place. I changed my coach a couple of months ago because I just felt I was not moving forward enough.

“And I’m much happier now because I know what’s happening with my swing more now and I can identify mistakes more in my game and address them.

“I feel like I’m hitting the ball better, and that gives me more confidence on the golf course.”

McEvoy says he has some of his favourite tournaments coming up, starting with this week’s KLM Open.

He’s also previously fared well at the Italian Open in Turin, the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland, and the South African Open – the tournament where he pulled a career-best third-place finish late last season to save his playing card.

He said: “There’s good weather forecast for the KLM this week, so hopefully I can get the ball rolling here.

“And I’ve got some tournaments I’ve done well in before coming up and I know that one good performance at any of those can not only change your season, but can change your whole career.”

McEvoy is in a group with Niclas Fasth and Peter Hedblom for this week’s tournament at the Hilversumsche Golf Club.

>On the Challenge Tour, Thorpe Hall’s Matthew Southgate, and Basildon ’s Daniel Brooks are in action at the M2M Russian Challenge Cup in Moscow.

FULL GOLF ROUND UP IN THURSDAY'S ECHO