Australia’s Marcus Fraser finished an impressive week in Korea with a 4 shot victory at the Ballantines Championship on the European Tour here on Sunday. After the win, the Victorian Institute of Sport, Golf Program graduate credited a return to coach Denis McDade of Bann Lynch Golf for his win.

“…It’s all thanks to a lot of hard work back home with my coach Denis McDade…you always feel like you’re working towards something with all the practice that we do together, and its a big confidence boost this week, long overdue.”

McDade coached Fraser through the VIS Program and the early part of his professional career, when he earned his first European Tour win at the Russian Open in 2003. After a break of a few years from McDade in which he struggled with his game to the point where he contemplated quitting it altogether, Fraser decided to return to his old coach and get back to what he knew worked for him. The result is the biggest victory of his professional career to date, over a field that included major champions Ernie Els and Y.E Yang and some of the best players in the world including Henrik Stenson and Anthony Kim.

Fraser mentioned how a return to his old coach with whom he had enjoyed so much success as an amateur revitalized his game and gave him the confidence that he was on the right track:

“I had 4 wins in my first year as a professional and I expected a lot of myself…for some reason I stopped seeing him (McDade), don’t know why I did that..but it’s all water under the bridge for us now and we’re working hard to get another win.”

McDade was understandably thrilled with Fraser’s performance: “It’s just incredibly satisfying for me to see Marcus break through this way…we all know he’s got the talent to compete on this level and it was just a matter of working together to build his confidence up and keep putting himself in contention. A lot of hard work has gone into this, including via Skype this week! Absolutely over the moon.”

You can listen to the full audio clip of Marcus Fraser’s post-victory interview on the European Tour site by clicking this link:

Marcus Fraser has completed a 7 year journey back into the winner’s circle on the European Tour by winning the Ballantines Championship on Deju Island in South Korea.

The Victorian shot a final round of 69 to win the weather-shortened 54 hole event by an impressive 4 shot margin at 12 under par. He beat an impressive field which included the likes of Ernie Els, Anthony Kim, Y.E Yang and some of the best players on the European Tour.

“It’s unbelievable, I don’t know how I did that today. It has blown me away,” said Fraser. Clearly emotional and relieved after finally closing the deal, Fraser admitted he has had his fair share of struggles and doubts over the last 7 years or so:

“Probably three or four years ago, I thought about giving it away,” he added. “I was playing terrible. Golf swing wasn’t improving and everything wasn’t really getting any better.

“I thought I was wasting my time and you really start to question yourself, whether you think that you should be out here or whether you deserve to be out here. I went through a patch like that and luckily I went back and saw my old coach that I used to see when I was an amateur, and we got things moving in the right direction.

He was quick to give credit to his coach Denis McDade of Bann Lynch Golf:

“It’s been a lot of hard work over the last couple of years to get back to this position. My last win was when I was coached by Denis McDade, and I’ve had another win today, still being coached by him. So I think we’ve done a lot of things to keep things moving in the right direction.”

We will have more on this story soon. Congratulations to Marcus from all of us here at Bann Lynch Golf!

This much is for certain: April is going to be a huge month for Marc Leishman. Not only is the Aussie making his Masters debut in Augusta on April 8th, he’s tying the knot with fiance Audrey Hills on April 24. As he prepared for the Bay Hill Invitational on Tuesday, he couldn’t help but think about the month ahead.

So which event is he more nervous about? Not the wedding, according to Leishman (good answer). “I’m actually looking forward to it,” he said with a smile. “I know she’s the right person so I’m not nervous at all.”

The PGA Tour seems to be the right fit for the big man from Down Under as well. He followed up his Rookie of the Year performance in 2009 with a solid start to 2010 including a runner up finish at the Farmers Insurance Open and 3 other top 20’s.

Still, he’s looking to improve:

“There’s still a lot of work to be done,” Leishman said. “The results just don’t come. In ways it’s been easier because I’ve played some of the courses before and know where to hit it and where not to hit it…I guess it’s harder in other ways, though, because of the expectations. You are expected to do better than your first year out, but I like that (challenge).”

The trip to the Masters will also be special for Leishman’s coach Denis McDade from Bann Lynch Golf, who will be making his first appearance as a coach at Augusta.

Meanwhile, South Korean K.J Choi has his own sights set on another Masters appearance (he has played in every Masters since 2002). Choi made a huge leap from 75th in the Official World Golf Rankings to 47th after his runner up finish last week in the Transitions Championship. He needs to remain in the top 50 at the end of this week to cement his position in this year’s Masters field.

“When I started out this year, I didn’t really think about it that much, but obviously it was in my mind,” said Choi when asked about the Masters. “I just said to myself to take it week-by-week and just try my best. To hear that this finish puts me in 47th in the world, it’s actually better than what I thought I would be at this point. All I can say is I will try my best next week to maintain or better that position.”

Thanks to Pure Golf Blog for this article:

Sophomore slump? Don’t bother talking about anything of that sort to  Marc Leishman. The 2009 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year has started the 2010 season picking up right where he left off.

Leishman has made 3 out of 4 cuts with the highlight being a T2 finish in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. The Victorian finished one shot behind winner Ben Crane of the United States, and tied with fellow Aussie Michael Sim and American Brandt Snedeker.

Coming into the new season, Leishman was asked about his goals for the season:

“I think if I could just improve my game, that’s the main thing. If I can do that, I can improve, and the results will take care of themselves. I had a very good year last year. I guess I maybe went past my goals a little bit… It was great. Hopefully I can do better this year and see how we go.”

Leishman has also put in strong performances at the Northern Trust Open (T15) and the Sony Open in Hawaii (T20) with his sole disappointment of the season so far being a missed cut at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Don’t worry about him becoming complacent any time soon though:

“I knew that just because I got Rookie of the Year it didn’t mean I was all of a sudden going to become an unbelievable player,” Leishman said. “I knew I still had work to be done. I really didn’t take that for granted and I’m not taking the PGA TOUR for granted.”

This is exactly the kind of attitude that has Leishman’s coach Denis McDade of Bann Lynch Golf very excited about his prospects:

“Marc continues to grow as a player but there is no shortage of incredibly talented players out here on Tour” said McDade. “I think what’s really working in his favor is his belief in his own abilities and a very positive attitude towards enjoying his game, enjoying the process of getting better and enjoying the thrill of competition. I’m proud of what he has accomplished so far.”

The season is still young and it remains to be seen whether Leishman can sustain his run of good play for the rest of the year. However with this kind of positive attitude and the results to back it up, not many people would bet against him making it back into the FedEx Cup Playoffs this year after being the only rookie to do so last year.

Marc Leishman has earned himself a place in the Tour Championship after finishing in a tie for 2nd place with Jim Furyk at -11, 8 shots behind runaway winner Tiger Woods.

Leishman, a rookie on the PGA Tour this year closed with a 69, having only advanced to the third round of playoffs at Cog Hill by making an eagle putt on his final hole last week at the TPC Boston. Now he’s headed to the Fedex Cup finale at the Tour Championship in a couple of weeks for an outside shot at $10 million, and is assured of making his first trip to the Masters.

“I’m in the Tour Championship now and the Masters,” Leishman said. “It’s pretty hard to wipe the smile off my face.”

Marc Leishman works with Denis McDade at the BannLynch Golf School in Melbourne, Australia. BannLynch Golf is the original academy set up by IIG co-directors Steve Bann and Dale Lynch in Australia which has played a big part in producing the so-called “Aussie Invasion” of the US PGA Tour.

All of us here at the IIG would like to congratulate Marc on an incredible first full year out on Tour, and we wish him the best for the Tour Championship at East Lake!