There's no Open Storm this time out

After a glorious amateur career, the Hartlepool golfer turned pro and harboured high ambitions. Since playing in The Open and the US Masters, Storm's career has taken a turn for the worse and, as The Open starts this morning, he is watching from home. Sports writer Paul Fraser discovers a fiery determination to return to the big stage.

JUSTIN ROSE and Graeme Storm have known each other for many a year. Their young golfing careers followed similar paths and the friendship has blossomed both on and off the greens and fairways.

But when The Open Championship tees off this morning at the Royal St George's course in Sandwich, one will have his feet up watching the play unfold on television.

The other, meanwhile, will have serious eyes on lifting the famous Claret Jug - and few will need reminding that Storm will be the unfortunate absentee.

But Rose's sudden turnaround in fortunes after plenty of hard work fills his close friend with hope; hope that the Hartlepool golfer can bounce back from the golfing wilderness and towards the lavish heights he achieved in the past.

Not so long ago Storm realised his dream of becoming a professional and was so highly regarded he was being touted as a future winner of The Open.

But after more than three years on the circuit he has quickly discovered that dreams are not always what they seem.

It is at this stage of the season when reality sets in for Storm, as he has to sit back in his armchair and watch Woods, Els, Montgomerie et al challenge to become the latest name to be engraved on the prestigious trophy.

To make the prospect of missing all the action worse for the 25-year-old, it will be the first time in seven years that he has not even attempted to qualify.

His reason is simple.

Storm has to overlook trying to enter the glamour competitions as he attempts to rebuild his flagging career. A decision vindicated by his highest finish of the season - eighth - at the Open de Volcans Challenge de France on the Challenge Tour last Sunday.

Golf enthusiasts will fondly recall a summer's day in 1999 when Storm shot to fame overnight, joining a list of exclusive names - such as Jose-Maria Olazabal and Sergio Garcia - to become British Amateur champion.

By beating Aran Wainwright 7&6 at Royal County Down, Storm gained automatic qualification into the US Masters and The Open Championship at Carnoustie.

But since then Storm has struggled to leave his mark in the professional game; he has been dumped by his manager; worked full-time in a food factory; and seriously considered turning his back on the sport he has loved since his 13th birthday when his grandfather, Bill Trueman, put a seven iron in his hand.

And, although frustrated to have to make the decision to ignore The Open, he is convinced he has taken the right action as he bids to return to the high standards he set himself only a short time ago.

"I have not even tried to enter The Open and it is the first time in seven years that I haven't," said Storm, who has also had to overcome the sudden loss of his father, Ray, in April - not long after Rose's dad, and coach, Ken lost his battle against leukaemia.

"It would have been nice to play in it again but I have to be realistic and I have to concentrate on getting my Tour Card back this year.

"I'm trying to go through the right channels and not get distracted by trying to enter the big events. If I focus on the job in hand then hopefully I will be back and playing in The Open in the long run. I know I'm good enough, but it will all fall into place with time providing I don't get carried away.

"My first target is to get back on the Challenge Tour and that is what I am aiming for. But then who knows? I suppose, though, I would like to be back playing in The Open Championship by 2005-06."

Arguably, Storm's failure to make the weekend's play at both Carnoustie and Augusta was the start of his decline - although few would have expected anything more when the list of names he was up against is considered.

Failure to keep his European Tour card meant he was facing up to the prospect of a spell on the less glamorous Challenge Tour.

And at the start of this season he was dumped by Andrew 'Chubby' Chandler's International Sports Management - who boast the likes of Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood in their stable - and he has had to foot the bill for European trips on the EuroPro Tour from his own pocket ever since.

And Storm admits there has been difficult times and he would love nothing more than for backing from a sponsor to come in and help him out.

"I was disappointed not to make the cuts at both Carnoustie and The Masters," said the Category 11 player, a standing which means he has to wait for players to drop out of Challenge Tour events before he receives an invite.

"But there were better players than me at Carnoustie who struggled to cope with the course that day. I finished with the same score as Vijay Singh and I took the positives out of that rather than look for the negatives. But I have sent a copy of my CV to many people. It is quite a colourful CV because of what I have achieved, so it has been disappointing. It's expensive when you have to do it all yourself. But don't get me wrong I am getting by because I have made the cut most times this season.

"And, mainly, that is why I am now playing on the EuroPro Tour, it is at a lower level which makes it easier for me to bump my earnings up. And when I feel like I'm playing better I can step up to the Challenge Tour and be more confident."

It has been hard for Storm to come to terms with his fall from grace. Spending two months working full-time at a local food factory - packing cakes on a production line - made him realise he could not turn his back on the sport.

Retirement, at just 24, was seriously on his mind, but a few words with a few close friends around the greens helped him reach the decision to carry on.

Rose and Storm have grown up together since competing with and against each other at junior level.

And Rose went through his own bad spell - he failed to make 21 cuts in a row after finishing tied fourth in the 1998 Open at Royal Birkdale - so he empathises with what the Wynyard golfer is going through.

"I have spoken to a lot of people who I know on the tour, like Justin and my new coach Ian Rae, and they have kept me focused," said Storm, who has also worked under the wing of Hartlepool's Malcolm Cole and Ian Barter.

"Justin has been through a similar period to what I am going through now. And Ian has helped me a great deal. I used to work with a psychologist a lot but since I've stopped working with one I have realised it was just my technique that needed improving.

"And I now feel better in myself and that has been the main difference really, just working on my game and not with my mind.

"I used to be encouraged to use the psychologist through ISM, but since leaving I've realised that just wasn't for me.

"The motivation is there. I did some work over the winter and all that did to me was highlight where I want to be and what I want to do in life and that's play golf.

"The way it was looking at ISM made me really depressed about the whole thing. I just didn't think I would be able to afford to carry on. I was only able to play occasionally at weekends and go on the driving range now and again, but that gave me the boost to play again. Now I know what I want.

"I am a player, and I know that. I don't mean to be disrespectful of club pros but that is not me, I want to play and I'm determined to get my card back."

Storm is now based in Lossiemouth, north Scotland, just a short drive away from the Nairn course where he clinched t he Walker Cup for Great Britain and Ireland in 1999 with a superb putt when nerves were the order of the day.

And he revealed the satisfaction he still feels when he returns to that golf club and is treated like royalty by club members.

"The facilities at Nairn are fantastic. And it is also nice for me to go back and practise," he said. "The people there remember me and I'm the only person to go back from that Walker Cup winning team. They still have pictures of that team on the walls and it's good to be able to go there and have the memories come flooding back."

Now, with regular use of Nairn as well as Wynyard and Hartlepool courses, Storm is firmly focusing on trying to recapture the spark.

His father Ray used to follow him around the country watching him and just a day after he passed away some may say he was watching over his son in another way.

Storm explained: "It has not been easy to get over my dad. I was qualifying for the EuroPro Tour School and it was his funeral in the middle of it. He used to follow me around and on the day he died he watched me play a qualifying round at Wynyard.

"After my round, I hit a 79 and looked out of it, my girlfriend took him home and then he passed away when he was on the bus later that night. The next day I played my second round at Wynyard, because I knew that's what he would have wanted me to do, and I hit a 69 which got me through.

"I then went down to Devon for the School, where I finished in the top 30 to earn my place on the Tour. I have tried not to think about whether my dad played his part, but all I know is he was a terrific man and there were thousands at his funeral."

Ray enjoyed every minute of witnessing his son's game, and with Storm's steely perseverance there is every possibility that the level-headed golfer will be able to leave his mark on the big stage again.

And then who knows? Storm may even fulfil a lifelong wish of challenging for the Claret Jug - and you sense he will not stop until he does.