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 | | | | | | Quick Facts | | | Birthdate: 21 February 1971 | | Birthplace: Nyköping, Sweden | | | Age: 31 Ht: 5ft 8 ½in (174cm) Wt: 1st 6lb (72.6kg) | | | Home: Sweden | | | Country: Sweden | | | Turned Professional: 1989 | | | |
| Ryder Cup | | | Rookie | | European Tour Victories | | |
(3) 1999 Trophée Lancôme; 2000 Scottish PGA Championship, Volvo Masters
| | Player Notes | |
It is doubtful whether any player epitomises the pendulous nature of professional golf better than Pierre Fulke. A year prior to his appearance in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Melbourne the Swede was at a low ebb, his career threatened by a back problem.
But all that changed during the first week of January. Although Fulke lost to American Steve Stricker in the final at the Metropolitan Golf Club, his performance throughout the week saw him draw admiring glances from many quarters.
Such was the magnitude of his showing Down Under, Fulke's place in the European Ryder Cup team for The De Vere Belfry was immediately assured, and his gritty match play prowess will be a more than useful tool in the armoury of Sam Torrance.
Fulke's performance also saw him gather an abundance of Official World Golf Ranking Points too, raising the former European Challenge Tour player to 32nd on the list at the time - a far cry from the 203rd place he occupied just one week prior to the 1999 Ryder Cup at The Country Club, Brookline.
The 30 year old's Antipodean exploits continued a glorious five-month spell following his victories in 2000 at the Scottish PGA Championship at Gleneagles and the Volvo Masters at Montecastillo.
Before that, his first European Tour title had come in France in September 1999 when he captured the Trophée Lancôme but, in between times, he had the real worry of a potentially serious injury with which to contend.
"The problem was that the vertebrae in my neck and back were in the wrong place and therefore were sending out the wrong signals to the rest of my body," said Fulke. "I went to see a chiropractor in Stockholm called Michael Jansch - he just put them back in place and everything was fine."
The Swede admitted that during his darkest hours, it had occurred to him that he might never play golf at the highest level again. "It came into my mind, very briefly, in Dubai at the beginning of the 2000 season," he said. "I had only hit about 300 balls in six days and the problem recurred. You do think about things like that, but thankfully everything is fine now."
At The De Vere Belfry, the Swede will follow in the footsteps of his fellow Ryder Cup countrymen Joakim Haeggman, Jesper Parnevik, Per-Ulrik Johansson and Jarmo Sandelin, something he admitted he is more than looking forward to.
"Before Metropolitan there was no pressure on me to make the team, at least not from myself, so doing what I did was a bonus. To be honest I didn't actually realise it until some press guys told me after the tournament that I was probably in the Ryder Cup team now.
"It was a great feeling though, knowing that you are in the team at such an early stage, because you can prepare properly for it. And I did things. I wanted to go over to America a little bit and try that out.
"I played four tournaments over there, so my schedule turned out completely different to what it would have been had I not got in the Ryder Cup team that early. But I would definitely say that you can really prepare for the Ryder Cup in a much easier way when you qualify that early, for sure."
For a captain like Sam Torrance, who will prepare everything down to a tee, that is music to his ears.
Background
Son of a Swedish national swimming champion, golf was not his preferred sport as a youngster. Handball was a bigger lure until he caught the golf bug and won junior and senior amateur honours. Changed coach in 1997 to Swedish Federation's Steffan Johansson and became more positive. Success came in the Trophée Lancôme with a last hole 25 foot putt at Saint Nom la Bretèche - after his mother, Christina, had a premonition that he would triumph. Went on to consolidate on that victory by taking the Scottish PGA Championship at Gleneagles in 2000, soon after competitive return following a seven-month absence with what he believed to be an injury to his left wrist a week after winning the Trophée Lancôme. Diagnosed the problem as an injury to the neck and back vertebrae being out of alignment. Once cured, he won at Gleneagles then added the Volvo Masters title, producing the Shot of the Year - a 215 yard five wood at the 70th hole at Montecastillo - to edge out Darren Clarke. Began 2001 in superb style, finishing runner-up to Steve Stricker in the final of the WGC-Accenture World Match Play Championship in Melbourne. Opened his 2002 season with second place in the Johnnie Walker Classic.
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| W - L - T | Points | | 0 - 1 - 1 | .5 |
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Pierre Fulke
