Gregory: I'm ready for professional challenge

The Corhampton ace revealed turning pro was on his mind during the Walker Cup – and it was the perfect way to sign off his amateur career.

Gregory’s first tournament as a professional comes sooner than expected.

He’s earned an 11th-hour call up to play in the Portuguese Masters – part of the European Tour – at Vilamoura, which starts tomorrow, after only turning pro on Monday.

The 22-year-old’s final tournament as an amateur was in the Walker Cup as part of the GB & Ireland side that lost to the USA in Los Angeles earlier this month.

Gregory performed creditably Stateside and won two-and-a-half points out of the seven GB&I picked up.

In his final singles game, he came back from two down with two to play to earn a half against Norman Xiong.

The England international made a 35-foot putt on the 17th to stay in the match.

It was a superb ending for Gregory and he feels that experience proved he is able to cut it in the professional ranks.

He said: ‘It was something on my mind but the Walker Cup was the perfect way to sign off my amateur career.

‘If I had not holed that 35-footer on the 17th in the singles, I may have played the county finals to redeem myself.

‘But that putt proved to me I can do it under pressure.

‘Pro golf isn’t going to be easy, but I’m ready to face any challenges head on and give it everything I’ve got.

‘I want to have a couple of months on my own and explore all of the options, get my name around and make the right decision after tour school.

‘I want to take my time and make the right moves to start my career.’

Gregory had a sterling amateur career.

He won the British Amateur Championship at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club last year, beating Robert MacIntyre 2&1 in the final.

That earned him a spot to compete in the 2016 Open Championship, as well as this year’s Masters and US Open.

After announcing his decision to turn pro on Monday morning via Twitter, his phone was ringing a couple of hours later with an invite to play in the Portuguese Masters.

It sparked a mad dash to Heathrow to catch a flight to Faro in the afternoon.

Gregory added: ‘I knew I was on the reserve list and I wasn’t going to go.

‘But then I had a call to say I was the first reserve just before lunch, so I went home to book flights and look for somewhere to stay.

‘While I was booking them, they called again to say I was in the tournament.’