BORDEAUX, France – Oct. 27, 2004 – Lee Slattery has come a long way in two years. The Englishman completed an astounding 2004 season at last weekend’s Bouygues Telecom Grand Final when he secured the Number One Spot on the Challenge Tour Rankings, completing a journey that began in a high street clothes shop and has ended with a golden ticket to golfing paradise on The European Tour.
Just under 24 months ago Slattery was serving the public and folding clothes for a living after his life as a professional golfer had been brought to a halt by glandular fever, the effects of which forced him to lose interest in the sport and give up any serious thought of making it at the top level of the game he made look so easy on the 2004 Challenge Tour.
After six months of stocking shelves and smiling at customers, Slattery knew his vocation was golf and began piecing his career back together. He implemented some sweeping changes in his life, focusing entirely on golf and heading for the Sunshine Tour in South Africa near the end of 2003.
It was at the two co-sanctioned events between the Sunshine and Challenge Tours at the beginning of this year that the 26 year old began to show glimpses of what was to come. He found his feet with a 31st place finish at the Stanbic Zambia Open and followed it up by coming tenth in the Kenya Open 2004 the following week.
Slattery returned to Britain to dominate the Third Level EuroPro, winning twice and notching four other top five finishes before he took his game to another level on the Challenge Tour by securing second place behind Sweden’s Fredrik Henge at the JJB Sports North West Challenge at the Marriot Worsley Park Hotel & CC, England, in July.
He never looked back from there, finishing third at the Ryder Cup Wales Challenge at Northop Golf and Country Club, second at the Rolex Trophy at Club de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland, second again at the Fontana Golf, Vienna, Austria, in the BA-CA Golf Open presented by Telekom Austria.
The only remaining question over Slattery’s Challenge Tour capability was could he go all the way and win, and he answered that query just seven days after coming second in Austria by taking the Telia Grand Prix title at the Ljunghusens Golf Club in Sweden.
In the space of eight weeks, Slattery’s ability, dedication and desire had brought him from nowhere to become a Challenge Tour champion – and he didn’t stop there, not now that he was on the tail of Italy’s Alessandro Tadini for the honour of becoming Challenge Tour Number One.
A tie for third at the Golf de Toulouse-Palmola during the Open de Toulouse ensured that Slattery was snapping at Tadini’s heels going into the last event of the season, and he finished the job in style, taking fifth place at the Bouygues Telecom Grand Final to leapfrog the Italian at the top of the Rankings and finish the season on top of the pile with earnings of €95,979.
The man himself calls the story of his last two years – especially his 13 week stay on the 2004 Challenge Tour – a “fairytale”. No-one can argue with that.
