Stephen Gallacher: I could easily walk away and nobody would say anything - but I'm not ready for that yet
Not when he’s fighting furiously to hang on to a DP World Tour (better known to most as the European Tour) card, which he secured in 1996 and has held for all but one season since then. In 26 campaigns, he’s clocked up 624 appearances, which leaves him sandwiched between Colin Montgomerie and Paul Lawrie in ninth spot on the circuit’s all-time list. Oh, and let’s not forget his four title triumphs, including a breakthrough St Andrews success, and, also on home soil, a Ryder Cup appearance. “I could easily walk away right now and nobody would say anything and you’d go ‘by the way, not a bad career’,” said Gallacher, who turns 48 at the beginning of next month, and he’s right.
One of the most likeable individuals to grace a game that’s in his blood - his uncle, Bernard, enjoyed a stellar playing career himself before captaining Europe in three Ryder Cups, including a memorable win on US soil at Oak Hill in 1995 - Gallacher freely admits that he has one eye on a new chapter in his career on the over-50s’ circuit, where close friend Lawrie has just racked up a third title triumph, but that’s for the future. He’s only interested in the here and now and, though needing to pull a rabbit out of the hat in order to hang on to that card without having to find himself trying to do that back at the Qualifying School, Gallacher is anything but downbeat, despondent or depressed.
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Hide AdOverall, his form in 2022 has been disappointing, hence why he was close to being outside the top 200 in this season’s DP World Tour Rankings heading into the recent Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and is currently sitting 752nd in the Official World Golf Ranking. But, in recent weeks, there have been signs of a significant improvement. He shared the lead at the halfway stage in the acciona Open de España in Madrid before being left in home hero Jon Rahm’s slipstream along with everyone else. He’s shot under par in five of his last 12 rounds, four of which were at Valderrama - one of the toughest tests in golf. In short, it’s been more like the Gallacher of old. “I’ve played well the last three weeks,” he admitted. But, prior to that, I had actually missed a lot of cuts by either one or two shots, which shows it wasn’t that far away. I had a good chat with my coach, Alan McCloskey, and I also did a bit of work with John Pates, my psychologist. We just changed a couple of things, just the way I was thinking over the ball more than anything and also altered a couple of technical things.”
During a brilliant amateur career - one of the highlights was helping Great Britain & Ireland win the Walker Cup at Royal Porthcawl in 1995 against an American side that included Tiger Woods - Gallacher always seemed to make the game look easy. For most of his professional career, his ball-striking ability has always drawn admiration. But, over the past few years, it’s seemed as though he’s been looking for something different or new to help prolong his playing days, having even made trips across the Atlantic to seek advice from both Dave Stockton and Sean Foley.
“I think what happened is that I’ve had two or three hand operations and the way I played the game, say up until 2018, I couldn’t do that any more, so I had to change and it’s not been brilliant, to be honest,” he conceded. “My technique has not been as good as I want it to be. I still hit the ball far enough. Even though I’m getting older, I’m not losing any length. It obviously gets tougher, both physically and mentally, after 26 years of grinding it out. But I’ve still got the passion. I want to improve my technique as much as I can. I am working on the psychological side of it as well, which I’ve always done as I think it’s a massive part of the game.
“I’ve really enjoyed the last three weeks. To be leading in Madrid after two rounds bearing in mind how my game has been, it just shows you how quick this game can turn. You just need to tweak your technique a little bit, get a wee bit of luck and a bit of confidence. It can turn around so quickly in this game - I’ve seen it happen. So you’ve always got to have that belief.”
On the back of his better run of results, the former Scottish Amateur champion had climbed to 167th the DP World Tour Rankings, which will see the top 117 retain full playing privileges for next season. Having been forced to pull out of this week’s Mallorca Open due to his back feeling the strain of teeing up nine weeks on the trot, it means that the Portugal Masters, which starts on Thursday in Vilamoura, is his ‘Last Chance Saloon’. “I might go out to Portugal and finish first or second and I’ve kept my card,” he said. “But, if not, I’ve got some contingencies in place and it’s another challenge for me in my career. I’ve been to the Tour School three times and got my card three times, so that’s encouraging if I do find myself back there next month.”
During the Covid pandemic, Gallacher was hit by a series of massive personal blows. His dad Jim, a larger than life character and immensely proud of every single achievement by Stephen, died at the age of 67. Alan Steel, his long-time sponsor and a close friend, also passed away and others, too. “Covid was tough for everyone, including me,” he said. “I lost my dad and also a lot of friends. I didn’t enjoy the game at that time. I thought it was really tough, so I don’t know if that maybe set me back a little bit. But certainly the last three weeks has enthused me enough to know that I can still play at a high level and it’s given me the impetus to work harder and want to still be competing out on tour.”
While he’s travelled the world as a golfer and enjoyed doing so, Gallacher is always happiest at home in his beloved West Lothian, where, after tasting Linlithgow life for a spell and taking part in the town’s historic Marches whenever the opportunity arose, he’s back living in Bathgate, close to his mum Wilma and sister Jennifer, along with wife Helen and their two children, Jack and Ellie. “Aye, it’s quite good, to be honest. Back near my family and all my friends. It happened at the right time for us with Ellie going to Strathclyde Uni and loving life, as you would do at her age, and it was what both Helen and myself wanted,” he said. “This is my third house in Bathgate and I’ve had two houses in Linlithgow. I’ve been nine miles away over the hill from Bathgate - that’s as far as we’ve got (laughing) - and I think we’re now here to stay!”