AUSTIN, Texas — Please pardon Richard Bland. As with many others peeking at a 50th birthday on the horizon, Bland is the first to admit he’s still scrambling to learn New Math.
For example, the journeyman — who captured his first European Tour victory last at the Betfred British Masters in his 478th start — had been advised by those on his side to sit out the last few weeks, regardless of his desire to improve his Official World Golf Ranking prior to the upcoming Masters.
“In all my career I really never had to worry about my World Ranking and then suddenly when I went to I think 53 after Dubai, it’s been really weird,” Bland said after his match Friday at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. “I’ve had a guy sort of helping me with sort of permutations, and he’s going like, ‘It’s probably best you don’t play this week — or not this week, you know, on another week.’
“And I’m like, ‘How does that work? I want to play.’ And I didn’t play for three weeks and I think I went up seven spots. So I was kind of thinking, well, if I don’t play for the rest of the year I might be world No. 1.”
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Bland might not be due to overtake Jon Rahm any time soon, but the Englishman is playing some of the best golf of his life, regardless of his ranking. And in a group with high-profile players like Bryson DeChambeau, Lee Westwood and Talor Gooch, Bland surprisingly emerged from Pool 9 at Austin Country Club, meaning he’s reached the Round of 16, which begins Saturday.
He edged Westwood 2 and 1 on Friday to advance. Bland, the bracket’s No. 54 seed, will face No. 8 seed Dustin Johnson next.
And while the questions about his age keep surfacing — Bland is the oldest player to advance out of group play since the format was introduced in 2015 and he’s getting closer to qualifying for his first Masters at a time when he should be sharpening up for the PGA Tour Champions — he takes it all in stride.
“I guess probably someone at 49 shouldn’t be doing this for the first time. But I guess there’s always the exception to the rule, isn’t there? Not necessarily just in golf. You see it in other sports as well,” he said. “You look at Bernhard Langer, 63, 64 years old, still winning on Champions tour. What an inspiration that is for someone like myself who is maybe looking to a career in the next couple years on Champions tour.
“If you stay fit and healthy, maybe I’ve got another 10 or 12 years in me yet, who knows. So, yeah, you’ve only got to kind of look at it, in tennis you still got, okay, Rafa Nadal’s still beating all the young ones, and Roger Federer, I’m sure when he comes back will be exactly the same. So there’s always the exception to the rule. So it’s quite nice to be that exception.”
He’s certainly due the consideration for Augusta. After winning the British Masters last May, he held a share of the lead after two rounds at last summer’s U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. He was also in the hunt at the Dubai Desert Classic earlier this year, falling in a playoff to Viktor Hovland.
Now, his showing in Austin continues to fill his schedule that was supposed to be clear this week. In fact, he was due to take his wife Catrin to New York next week for her 40th birthday. Instead, his impressive play netted him a spot in the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio.
It’s all an equation Bland didn’t think he’d have to work on, but one that he’s thoroughly soaking up.
“She flies in tomorrow,” Bland said. “With getting an invite into the Valero next week I had to put it kind of nicely that we’re not going to New York. She said she’s coming here. So that will probably cost me a bit more with a birthday present.”
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