AN ISLE of Wight-born pro golfer has hit the best form of his life as he finds himself about to live out his childhood dream, to play in one of the biggest sporting events on the planet — the Open Championships.
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It has been a whirlwind year so far on golf courses around the world for Brandon Robinson Thompson, with wins in tournaments in Egypt and in the UK, with high placings in tournaments in the Middle East, Malaysia and Thailand.
Brandon, 30, made it to The 151st Open in circumstances he described as 'weird', while playing in the Open Qualifiers at Royal Porthcawl in Wales a few weeks ago.
He secured one of the five Open spots available after carding an excellent -4.
Brandon is believed to be the first Islander to have ever achieved the feat of Open qualification.
It is an achievement the West Wight pro is only now trying to properly digest as the clock ticks down to the event, at The Royal Liverpool, starting on Thursday.
Describing the moment when he realised he had qualified for The Open, he said to his manager and best friend: "Holy c**p! We're in!"
Brandon adds: "But it's only now I've had time to think about what's about to come — and what's been accomplished already.
"I'm playing in The Open Championship. A boyhood dream. What we watched as kids.
"Playing in Denmark immediately after qualifying helped in a way because I had to get right back on the horse of focussing again — four days of competing, so I didn't really have time to think about it.
"It's only since I got back to the Isle of Wight and really started to clear my head and settle down that I've thought about it."
Brandon was asked who he dreamed about being paired with in the opening couple of rounds of The Open.
"I'm not really fussed. I don't mind. I'd like to have played with Tiger Woods, but he won't be there unfortunately," he said.
"But the moment will not be any more special, whoever I play with.
"It might be a tiny bit cooler if it was somebody I looked up to, like Ernie Els or Justin Rose, but the occasion will be so special, I don't think anything could top it really."
However, the one major figure in his life who will be there will be the man who introduced him to golf on his ninth birthday — his 80-year-old grandfather.
"When I see gramps, the realisation will sink in a little more because he's the reason I'm into golf, and the man I am today.
"He's coming to watch Open Championship. It'll be his first, which so happens to be the one I'm playing in.
"I feel I'm going to be happier for him than myself. It' a dream come true.
"I understand I've still got to go out and do it. I still have to perform. So many people have made it possible. In the beginning, it was him."
Brandon's grandfather was a member of Freshwater Bay Golf Club for nearly 40 years. Brandon planned to play a round there — a course he knows so well.
"I don't remember a day after my ninth birthday not being involved in the game."
Last week's steady performance at the Made in HimmerLand tournament in Denmark last week showed how adaptable he is to switching playing from the perfect, manicured course in warmer climes, to mastering the notoriously difficult British conditions of links courses.
Brandon is a relaxed, philosophical man who "goes with the flow," as he puts it, taking whatever life throws at him.
"I recently read the fable, The Chinese Farmer, where 'maybe' the things that happen in life are good or bad. You don't know what's round the corner do you? I feel my life's been a lot like that.
"You can plan, you can prepare and do all the necessary stuff, but things happen unexpectedly.
"All I would say about The Open is 'maybe'," before joking I should put £20 on him to win it.
At odds of 750-1, why not?
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