[Photo: Golf Australia supplied]
After a DP World Tour adventure that has lifted his confidence that he can compete on the world stage, Daniel Gale is back in Australia for his first Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia tournament of the new season.
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The three-time winner on his home tour and second on the Order of Merit in the 2023/24 season, Gale will be one of the favourites at the CKB WA PGA Championship presented by TX Civil & Logistics at Kalgoorlie Golf Course.
The Sydneysider’s first full year as a DP World Tour member reached its peak with a top-20 finish in Austria, but at 171st in the Race to Dubai and unlikely to get another start as the season winds down, his focus is now back on his home Tour.
“It’s been a big travel year. I reckon no one’s flown more than I have this year,” Gale said ahead of a practice round today.
“I came from Rome to Kalgoorlie via Brisbane, so it was probably about 35-ish hours of flying, but I actually feel pretty good.
“I feel like that with all the flying I’ve done this year, I’ve been able to sort of get back on schedule this week. I’ve been using the experience I’ve gained on that side of things.”
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Gale’s appearance at Kalgoorlie is his first in a tournament in Australia since last year’s Australian Open.
Since then, his travels have taken him to 20 events, including stops in places as diverse as Mauritius, New Zealand, Singapore, Kenya, Bahrain, India, Turkey, Italy, Denmark and France.
He rates his initial full-time campaign as a DP World Tour member as a “five of out 10” but now he’s had a taste, he’s keen for more and has entered Qualifying School later this year.
“I felt like I had a lot more to offer. I definitely feel like I belong out there,” the 28-year-old said.
“Pretty much all the areas of my game shone at some point. It just didn’t shine all at once, which it rarely does, but that was a big confidence booster.
“I didn’t close out a lot of opportunities where I did get off to good starts. In Austria, for example, on the back nine on Sunday I probably didn’t have a chance to win, but had really had a good chance for a top five finish and just had a shocker of a back nine.
“It was sort of a common theme this season. Also, I was just sort of the rookie and there’s a lot of little things that you learn from the first time that no one can teach you.
“Overall I feel like I did a pretty good job of managing a lot of things and learnt a lot along the way so hopefully I can get back there next year for next season and put those learnings into place.”
