Lewis: "I was asked if I wanted to go to US college and was told not to worry about my schoolwork – they would do it for me."
/The Walker Cup cocktail banter just got a lot more interesting thanks to this James Corrigan Independent profile of amateur Tom Lewis, the lad who starred at this year's Open Championship and headliner of the GB&I team playing this week at Royal Aberdeen.
Thanks to reader Andrew for this wide ranging piece, that includes this about his devotion to his golf game and his dyslexia:
"Of course I've never known anything different," he said. "I can't read certain words and I can't spell. So what? It doesn't mean anything to me. I've always wanted to play golf for a living, so school was never going to be a big part of my life.
"Yeah, I tried my best, but I didn't see the point of it. I didn't go to a school designed to cope with someone with dyslexia. There was nobody there to help me – but, to be honest, I didn't want help. I was just looking forward to leaving at 16. A lot of people talk about having a back-up, but to my mind if you are talking about a back-up your concentration is not fully on what you want. I've only got one goal. And if golf doesn't turn out to be my life I'm going to struggle."
And this ought to make the NCAA proud...
Yet despite his dyslexia and his lack of interest there was the chance to further his education. The majority of those who will line up with and against him at the Walker Cup are on University scholarships and the talent-hunters focus on the scorecards rather than the exam marks. "I was asked if I wanted to go to US college and was told not to worry about my schoolwork – they would do it for me," said Lewis. "But I didn't want to do that. If I was going to do it, I was going to do it properly. I wasn't going to sit in class and let someone else do my work. What's the point of that?"