LAURIE Canter says it is important to retain perspective as he bids to keep hold of his European Tour card for next season.

The 27-year-old, from the Cumberwell Park club in Bradford on Avon, who first qualified to play at European golf’s top level through qualifying school in late 2015, is set to just miss out on retaining his card, with three more events to play.

Canter was boosted this week when Europe’s 2018 Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn pulled out of the British Masters in Newcastle, which got under way on Thursday, gaining him entry into that event as one of the first reserves.

The top 100 in the Race to Dubai rankings keep hold of their cards, and with Canter currently some way off in 163rd, he says he will have to play the ‘golf of his life’ if he is to renew his status for another year.

“I’ve got two, maybe, three events left. Obviously, I am going to need some really good finishes to get myself in the top 100,” said Canter, who may also qualify with his place on the Access List, which excludes money earned at the most lucrative tournaments of the European Tour season.

“There are a lot of external things going on, but where I am at now is I am focussing on myself. You can’t really go out and influence what anyone else is doing, I just need to play my best golf for the next four days and see how I go really.”

Despite the step up in standard, Canter, who has played in a total of 15 European Tour events, made the cut in all but four, leaving him with a percentage of over 73 per cent.

A highlight came tied for 37th spot in the 146th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, along with the likes of Sergio Garcia and Martin Kaymer.

While making it to the latter stages of a tournament hasn’t proved to be a problem, Canter says he rues the missed opportunities where he hasn’t gone deep into an event.

“This is probably my second year on the Tour now, and it has been very interesting. I had a couple of good weeks in South Africa at the beginning of the year and The Open was a great experience,” he added.

“I’ve proved to myself that I can compete, I guess for me a lot of the time I haven’t performed well at the weekend.

“I feel like at certain points this season I haven’t quite been able to get my own way in the weekend, I feel like I have played good enough to have been quite competitive.

“I haven’t been able to kick on and make that transition. It’s tough to know why that is, I think there is an experience factor. I’m still yet to have a top five in a big event and I think the more you look for that, the harder it is to do.

“There are a lot of external pressures, but I am still looking at this season as a positive one and I’ve achieved a lot of the things I’ve set out to do.’’