Last year, Cayeux carded an extraordinary opening two-under-par 70 and made the cut in his home open. This year, he is playing it on a medical exemption, and he will have to take emotion out of the equation when he tees off on Thursday. Now, playing tournaments is about finding a balance between expectation and reality.
“It’s nice to come and play here,” he said. “It’s home and I feel comfortable. I just wish the confidence was up. In a way, I’ve got to fake it to make it and pretend I’m playing well.”
Cayeux, who once lived in Harare, is playing in his seventh Sunshine Tour tournament since his vehicle was involved in a head-on collision with a police truck in 2010.
The accident claimed the life of the policeman driving the truck and Cayeux, then 32, suffered dreadful injuries that required 27 operations and hours of physical therapy for more than five years just for him to get back to his feet, never mind playing golf.
And now, after returning to the Sunshine Tour where he was a nine-time winner by way of a sponsor’s invitation in Harare, he is back this time with five tournaments under his belt, and the start of a three-year medical exemption well and truly underway.
He kicked off his return to the tour at last year’s Alfred Dunhill Championship, and played in all the big summer events on the tour. “I didn’t play that well in the five events in the summer, but I know where I need to get my game to,” he said.
“In this first year back, I’ve got no expectations. I just want to try and get into the swing of things. Practising at the moment is a frustration. My brain remembers how I used to play. I see shots that I want to hit, but my body just can’t do it yet. It’s a process of going through all of this to find something that’s going to work.”
