Thursday 7 May 2020 21:26, UK
Marcus Armitage believes he can compete with the world’s top golfers and is using Brooks Koepka’s rise up the rankings as a benchmark for his own potential success.
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The 32-year-old recovered from a horrendous season on the Challenge Tour in 2019 to secure his European Tour playing privileges via Qualifying School, where he made an encouraging start to the season before the campaign came to a halt due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Armitage booked a place at The Open with a third-place finish at the SA Open and followed it by claiming a share of 12th at the Qatar Masters, lifting him from outside the world's top 1,300 up to world No 439, with the Englishman confident he can make further strides up the rankings.
"Brooks Koepka in 2013 was on the Challenge Tour and he's now been world No 1 and a four-time major winner," Armitage told the Sky Sports Golf podcast. "That's seven years ago, so world No 1 and multiple majors is possible, because you can't tell me it's not.
"What do I need to improve to get that? I'd say every facet of my game needs to just slightly improve and become more consistent.
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"If you put me on my best day and put the top golfer on their best day then I'd compete with them, but the difference is that I might do it one or two days a week, whereas Rory [McIlroy], Tiger [Woods], Brooks [Koepka] or Tommy [Fleetwood] will do it more like four or five times a week.
"It's just that level of consistency, what their clubhead does, how their mind works. Everything for me just needs to have a bit more consistent and that will take me up the world rankings."
As well as discussing his career targets, Armitage revealed how he got his nickname "The Bullet" and how he first got into golf, plus how he dealt with losing his mum to cancer at a young age.
Armitage shares tales of his early junior success and how he coped with little prize money available during the start of his professional career, as well as explaining the reason for playing The Open with a torn shoulder muscle!
Download and listen to the latest Sky Sports Golf podcast and don't forget to subscribe via iTunes! The Vodcast edition is available via Sky Sports On Demand, while a 30-minute version will be on Sky Sports Golf on Tuesday May 12 at 1.30pm.
