Wales & # 039; world number 358 Enoch enjoys US Open chance

Rhys Enoch insists he can compete with the best of the US Open at Pebble Beach this week
The closest Rhys Enoch has come to Tiger Woods on the training grounds.
Yet the leading male golfer in Wales is ready to compete when he comes up against Woods, Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka and the rest at the US Open this week.
Enoch, the world number 358, is as long as 1500-1 with a number of bookmakers to triumph in what will only be the third Major of his career.
But the 30-year-old says he is a player in the elevator.
He has overcome the tragedy of golf – younger brother Ben was killed in a car accident 10 years ago – and had to fight on the job since his professional in 2012.
Now Enoch hopes, who played golf alongside Rickie Fowler and was paired with Patrick Reed last year to become the next star of the Welsh game.
He comes there and has recently become the highest ranked player in Wales.
"It's fun to be able to say so," says Henoch BBC Sport Wales.
"It is important because (Welshman fellow) Stuart Manley (who is 25 places lower in the world ranking) will be furious! But I want to keep rising and rising.
Rhys Enoch came through a Walton Heath qualifier alongside Messrs Thomas Pieters and Lee Slattery to claim a place at the US Open
"I have the long battle, which is an important thing. I have to keep putting on and refining those wedges. Then the world is your oyster. "
A strong performance this week could change Enoch's life.
He is currently playing on the Sunshine Tour – which mainly takes place in South Africa – and the Challenge Tour, the level under the European Tour.
Enoch sits in the US Open field with a lap eight under par over 36 holes at Walton Heath a few weeks ago, beating Lee Westwood and Ross Fisher to one of the 14 available qualifying places.
After booking his seat at Pebble Beach, Enoch faced the challenge of finding affordable flights and accommodation.
He also had to arrange a caddy – Challenge Tour players tend to carry their own bags – while he chose the brains of fellow countryman Rhys Davies, who finished in 74th place when the US Open was last was played on Pebble Beach nine years ago.
"The most important thing Rhys said was not to be afraid of the course," Enoch says.
"People say it's so hard, there's so much rough, but when you hit the fairways and the greens, it doesn't really matter."
Cornwall, born and raised, had never been to Pebble Beach – one of & # 39; the world's most famous jobs – until he arrived in California last weekend.
He did play a lot of golf in America
Enoch's first love was rugby, especially thanks to father Steve, who was born in Swansea, grew up in Llantrisant and went to Cardiff in a university .
"He is as Welsh as they come," 1945:
"I played rugby from minis until when I was about 14, when golf took over." I grew up as a passionate person. Welsh rugby fan and that has moved to golf. "
Enoch & # 39; s golf career started thanks to his mother, Tracy.
" I was 10 or 11. My mother wanted a sport we all could do it because my father and I would go to rugby on Saturday and she was stuck with my brother Ben, "explains Enoch.
" My mother decided that we should try golf and my brother and I both have it pretty quickly picked up. "
It soon became clear that the two boys had a lot of talent.
Both represented Wales – and made a big impression in the amateur game – when Ben was 19-
Rhys has the nickname of his brother, Been, tattooed on his chest And he will definitely mind this week.
Ben Enoch, the younger brother of Rhys, also represented Wales as an amateur
Ben had to go to his older brother or sister at East Tennessee State University before he was killed while driving to a tournament in Lytham.
Rhys finally spent five years in the United States, where he played with Fowler, Russell Henley, Hudson Swafford and Harris English.
"I came through many of the guys (who are now) on the PGA Tour. It's nice to know that you can mix it with them," he says.
Enoch rubbed shoulders with another star name, 2018 Masters champion Reed, in Round Three of last year's Open in Carnoustie, where he finished on the 67th.
"We were on the second start Saturday, I thought that would be fine – nice and early," he recalls.
"Then we got The stands were full: six meters deep in the hole and the first green 30 meters deep. But it's almost easier when there are so many people because you can't see anyone – it's a big blur . "
Reed will be in the leading group on Thursday, when Enoch will play with the American duo Rob Oppenheim and Richard Lee.
With each of his previous majestic appearances – he missed the cut at the Open in 2014 – Enoch spent time hitting balls on the range next to Woods.
"It was not intentional, exactly as it turned out," he explains.
Tiger Woods is one of the favorites to win the US Open of the week
"You look at Tiger for a few minutes and realize that he only hits a golf ball.
" I didn't talk to him – I am not the kind of man who must go and interrupt. But I know that he is much more open to conversations nowadays, so if I see him this week, I will. "
Enoch & # 39; s father will be there to support him in the United States, while he will roar in southwestern England and South Wales.
He lives on the outskirts van Cardiff with his uncle Simon – a former rugby player who was in the same Pontypridd side as Neil Jenkins – and practices at the Parc Golf Club near Newport under coach Neil Matthews.
"With the work that Neil and I have done, I have transformed my game in the last five or six years, "says Enoch.
" I just feel so much more comfortable there. Making the cut at Carnoustie was the highlight of my career, but I hope to get better at Pebble Beach.
"I know that if I play well, I can be in the mix."
Inspired to try golf?
Discover how you can play golf with our special guide.