Justin Walters admitted there was a sense of déjà vu as he showed his trademark battling spirit on day one of the Portugal Masters.
The South African turned up at Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course seven years ago battling to keep his card under the personal cloud of having recently lost his mother.
A monster putt on the 72nd hole handed him the par he needed for solo second place and he kept his place on Tour, prompting emotional scenes in Vilamoura.
Walters’ father sadly died at the end of August and the two time Qualifying School graduate revealed in this week’s Player Blog presented by Enterprise Rent-A-Car that he would have taken the rest of the season off had he not had his playing privileges to worry about.
He arrived this week placed at 121st on the Race to Dubai Rankings Presented by Rolex, knowing that a finish inside the top 115 will absolutely guarantee that he keeps his card for 2020.
That means he does not need the runner up finish of 2013 but a good week is essential, and an opening bogey free 65 was just what the doctor ordered.
‘There’s a lot of symmetry,’ he said. ‘That year I’d lost my mum two weeks before that and this year I lost my dad a few months ago.
‘I’ll draw on those experiences, I do that all the time when I’m here. You can do that all you want but you have to move the ball from A to B and get in the hole.
‘You can’t spend too much time looking at the past – you have to look at what’s in front of you and I did a very good job of that today.
‘It was the kind of round I needed, given where I am. I was really calm today – that’s my mantra all week.
‘I love coming back to Portugal, I love this golf course and love being here. To play well on top of that is a bonus but it’s required. The hardest part about today was not trying too hard – I’ve been doing that regularly this year. I just stayed in every shot and stayed present, it was lovely to do that.’
