There will be added pressure on all of the home players at this week’s Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open, but Stirling’s Craig Lee will try his best to treat it like any other event.
Of course that won’t be easy as the Castle Stuart event is regarded as the fifth major for the Scots in the field.
Not since Colin Montgomerie lifted the trophy in 1999 at Loch Lomond has a Scottish player won the national open.
Lee, who recorded his best Scottish Open performance at Royal Aberdeen two years ago when he finished tied 16th, said: “It is an important event for the Scottish players but I try not to alter my game plan whatever the size of the event.
“I have to just try to play my normal game. I will not put any additional pressure on myself. But it will be nice to have some local support which always spurs me on.
“My daughter Ellie lives in Inverness, so it is going to be a week I can spend with her as well. That will be fantastic. But, in terms of the golf, I will be treating it like another event.”
A top-10 in the Spanish Open has been the highlight of 2016 so far for Lee, whose start to the season was hindered by a wrist injury. But the 39-year-old was relieved to avoid going under the knife to find a cure.
He said: “It was sore from the end of last year.
“I got it scanned in May but the good news was I required a steroid injection rather than an operation. That gave me the confidence to not be worried about using it.
“I know Stephen Gallacher had a similar injury and he had to get the operation.
“That was my fear as you can be out for a few weeks and you are never sure how long it is going to take to recover.
“It was good to know I wouldn’t do any long-term damage if I continued to play.”