Having earned his European Challenge Tour card at the end of 2015, following a successful run at the Hotelplanner.com EuroPro Tour, Marcus has gone one step further at the conclusion of the season and progressed to the top level of European golf, the European Tour where he will, for 2017, compete alongside the likes of Rory McIlroy, Martin Kaymer, Thomas Pieters, Lee Westwood and many of golf's elite.
The Howley Hall professional began the 2016 season in rather slow fashion however he announced himself come October. With his destiny in his own hands, marcus had a stretch of four tournaments left before the end of the year to earn his place at the top table for 2017, and he was more than up to the task. Despite a setback in the first event of this critical period, where Marcus missed the cut at the Hainan Open, he was still confident but needed big finishes in his final three. Staying on in China for the second weeks event, having just made the starting field, Marcus proved his calibre and took the Foshan Open title, all but securing his place inside the top 15 on the Order of Merit and an elusive European Tour card.
Two further events followed, the next event in the UAE the following week couldnt live up to the hype of the previous event however Marcus made the cut and earned valuable money, maintaining his 11th position on the Order of Merit. So it came down to the final event, with the chances of being knocked down 5 places being very slim, Marcus alongide 44 other professionals, played in the Grand Final, the closing event on the Challenge Tour. Four solid days earned Marcus a share of 10th place, and with it, perhaps most importantly, one of the cards for the 2017 European Tour. A fantastic achievement bearing in mind that only 12 months ago Marcus was touring the UK playing on the 3rd tier of professional golf and now he has at the highest level.
The work does not stop there though, the 2017 season starts in earnest and with the first event kicking off in South Africa in only three weeks, its back to practice range and preparing for the next challenge.
Congratulations to Marcus for all he has achieved and watch out for him on the leaderboards around Europe in 2017.