Finch positive fallow year can help his development

There are no pats on the back in the locker room or retelling of successful escapes from greenside bunkers with fellow tournament leaders.

The driving range becomes a second home and the coach a sounding board, but frustrations grow as solutions to problems are desperately sought but not found.

Miles away from friends and family, hotel rooms become a padded cell where kinks in the swing or a jitter in the putting stroke torture the mind.

Every golfer has gone through it; most come out of it.

Richard Finch hopes he is one such fortunate soul.

Having spent much of his career on the periphery of something special, he eventually found it at the end of 2007.

A top-10 finish in Mallorca secured the Hull professional's European Tour card for a fourth straight year but that annual tussle was put behind him when a few weeks later he began the 2008 campaign with a maiden win at the New Zealand Open.

Five months later he triumphed at the prestigious Irish Open, falling into the water as he played his decisive approach shot to the 72nd green.

After years of treading water, Finch was at last making a splash.

He made his major debut in the Open at Royal Birkdale later that year and played in America in the WGC's elite fields. Finch finished 20th on the Order of Merit, an improvement of 40 places on his previous best earned three seasons earlier.

2009 seemed destined to be another big year – but it did not turn out that way.

Finch managed just two top-10 finishes as he plummeted to 110th in the inaugural Race to Dubai standings.

"The last eight or nine months have not been quite what I had in mind," said Finch this week as he reflected on a trying period.

"I don't think looking back my mindset was incorrect. My expectations were high but they always are. The bottom line though is if you're not playing well enough the results aren't good enough.

"As a pro you're always trying to improve and I don't think I went into 2009 conscious of what I had achieved in 2008. It created a great opportunity for me with the Opens and the WGC events but it wasn't going to affect how I was going to play.

"It can be very tough when you're out there because things snowball and it all comes down to confidence.

"The only way to get out of it is by hitting a couple more fairways and putting youself into position to hit more greens to give youself a chance of putting for a birdie instead of scrambling to make par.

"When you're playing well you're that much more relaxed. But as a pro it's your job and you have got to come up with the goods.

"This year I won't be trying any more or any less than I have in the past few years.

"But hopefully that experience will serve me well and it will all have been a good learning curve.

"In a lot of ways, I will have improved through what happened in 2009."

Such a fallow year has placed extra importance on 2010. The doors opened by his victories two years ago will slam shut at the end of this season. The exemptions into the Tour's big tournaments he earned from his wins in New Zealand and Ireland will finish and it will all come down to playing his way back into contention.

"I wouldn't say I need a good year," added Finch, who will have to qualify at Sunningdale in June if he is to make a third successive appearance at the Open.

"I'm keen to play well and once you start playing well you have more fun out on the golf course.

"As much as I would have liked a good year last year, sometimes you look back and think I could have done this differently, I could have done that differently.

"There was not one area that was a weakness for me last year but at the end of the day it just wasn't right.

"There are no lies and no excuses, the results show that things aren't going right. Certainly when you're in control of your game and things are flying it's a lot more enjoyable."

The beauty of golf is that it can all turn in one round. The trick is not fooling yourself that you have 'found it'.

It is why Finch will have climbed into bed at his Abu Dhabi hotel last night pleased with his opening round of three-under par 69, but not too expectant that a corner has been turned.

"It can all change so quickly, such are the small margins we operate on," said the 32-year-old who has been working on his putting with Phil Kenyon at Hillside and on his long game with renowned Yorkshire coach Pete Cowen.

"I'm certainly not disillusioned, but by the same token I'm really conscious of the fact that the results need to improve.

"I've been trying to work out what suits me and get a better understanding of how and why.

"It might not necessarily be technically better but the key now is just focusing on polishing the things that work for me."

Richard Finch's highs and lows

2005 (up): Finishes first full year on tour in 60th place after going close to winning Italian Open.

2006 (down): Endures a tough second year and only just makes it into top 115 to retain his card, finishing 113th.

2007 (down): An improvement of three places on the year only achieved by a seventh-place finish at Mallorca Classic, otherwise he would have been back at qualifying school.

2008 (up): Begins season with maiden win in New Zealand. Also wins in Ireland, debuts at the Open and finishes 20th on the money list.

2009 (down): Drops 90 places on Order of Merit after missing 14 of 27 cuts and only earning two top-10 finishes.