Welwyn Garden City golfer Tom Lewis

FOLLOWING a sensational 2011 which saw Tom Lewis lead The Open Championship as an amateur, win the Walker Cup with GB & Ireland, turn professional and secure his first pro tournament title, we caught up the Welwyn Garden City golf star to find out how he is planning to top that in 2012.

TOM Lewis may have just had a year he will never forget, but he is determined not to rest on his laurels.

The 21-year-old’s first outing of the new year will be at the 2012 Volvo Golf Champions event in South Africa which starts tomorrow (Thursday) and runs until Sunday.

He took time off over the Christmas period to recharge his batteries and spend time at home in Times Territory in preparation for 2012.

Speaking exclusively to the Welwyn Hatfield Times, the Portugal Masters winner said: “I got a bit ill towards the end of the season, I’d had a long season from the year before without much of a break and it caught up with me.

“It is important that I now move on and look forward to the goals ahead, I have certain goals I shouldn’t mention, but it’s always key to have high goals.”

While many sang Lewis’ praises after his thrilling 2011, he was critical of parts of his game.

“I was very inconsistent last year with my performances and my swing and mentally a little bit,” he said.

His confidence is good and he is hopeful of securing a second professional tournament triumph sooner rather than later.

“If I have good weeks and play to my best I will do well, but I need to continue to work, I’m mentally feeling confident that if I get on the right course on the right week and play well I’ll win again.

“It would be nice to win early on and maybe get another one mid-way through the season, but I know I may not win at all, I need to be consistent.”

One target the former Monk’s Walk School pupil has set himself is to climb the world rankings from 172.

“It would be nice to get in the top 50 in the world and to make all the majors, but that will be tough to do as the masters is so early on in the season.

“This [January] will have to be a good month for me to make that top 50, if not that the top 64 as that would get me into the World Matchplay.”

One of the highlights of the golfing calendar, the Ryder Cup, will be played in September.

Lewis knows another impressive season could see him picked for the European team by captain José Maria Olazábal.

When quizzed on whether that is one of his targets, he said: “I could only answer questions about the Ryder Cup maybe a month before it, to say yeah I’m in or I’m not in.

“If I win two tournaments and play well for the rest of the year I’ll have a great chance, if I don’t do that I won’t be in it’s as simple as that.

“I think I’d have to earn my spot.

“It would be nice to go from Walker Cup to Ryder Cup in one year but that’s a long way off.”