David GonzalezTom Lewis arrives at the English Open supported by HotelPlanner with the air of a man not so much hunting for a miracle as waiting for the golf gods to stop hiding his car keys.
The 35-year-old Englishman tees it up at The Vale Golf Club in Worcestershire this week looking to kickstart his 2026 Road to Mallorca campaign, and for once the stage is agreeably familiar: home turf, home crowds, and home weather presumably doing whatever it pleases.
Lewis begins the week 81st on the season-long Road to Mallorca Rankings. His best result so far is an eighth-place finish at last month’s Danish Golf Challenge, which is respectable without being the sort of thing that makes rivals spill their protein shakes.
Still, there is a difference between being out of form and being out of sorts. Lewis sounds very much like a player who believes the pieces are there, even if the final picture has yet to resemble anything you would hang over the mantelpiece.
“I’ve been hitting the ball well and playing well,” he said.
“I’ve finished under par in every event this year apart from one so everything has been great.
“If I can give myself a chance to win that would be brilliant. I’m not saying I’m going to win or expect it but if I can give myself a chance that’s all you can ask for.”
English Open Returns After 24 Years
This week matters beyond one player’s scorecard. The English Open has not been staged for 24 years, with Darren Clarke winning the last edition in 2002. Its return, supported by HotelPlanner, gives the HotelPlanner Tour a useful dose of heritage and England a tournament name with a bit of old-school weight.
The Vale makes its debut on the Road to Mallorca this week, though it has previously hosted professional golf on the EuroPro Tour. Brandon Robinson Thompson, now among the HotelPlanner Tour alumni, won there in 2022.
For Tom Lewis, the appeal is simpler and more emotional. Professional golf can be a strangely rootless existence: airports, practice grounds, anonymous hotel rooms and enough buffet scrambled egg to make a man question his life choices. A proper tournament in England still carries a different note.
“Whatever happens it’s nice to be in England playing golf in a tournament,” he added.
“I feel like there should be more events back here in the United Kingdom. It’s massive, not just being English, it’s important for all golfers around the world. They know what to expect and the crowds to expect.
“The people are passionate about this sport, and we have some amazing golf courses in the country. I really hope to see more events back here on the HotelPlanner Tour and DP World Tour.”
That is a fair point, neatly made. British and Irish crowds do not merely watch golf. They audit it, mutter at it, applaud it properly, and occasionally offer swing advice from behind a rope while holding a tray of chips.
Why The Vale Could Reward Patience
Lewis has already seen The Vale this year, having visited the Worcestershire venue during a period away from competition. That sort of detail rarely makes a highlight reel, but it can matter over four rounds. Knowing where not to miss is often as useful as knowing where to aim.
His early read is that putting may separate the hopeful from the haunted.
“I expect the person that putts well will be up there this week,” he said.
“There are some subtle breaks in these greens and they’re going to bobble a little bit more in the afternoon than in the morning.
“I happened to come here during a period of time off and played a practice round which was useful. Now I know what to expect. Those little details that people don’t see are what top players do.
“You have to have a lot of acceptance around this golf course. It’s going to be bouncy. If you want to be aggressive and take it over corners you can but you might clip a tree or be under a tree and have to chip out.”
There, in miniature, is tournament golf: temptation, punishment, and the eternal possibility of standing under a tree wondering whether a hero shot is bravery or untreated optimism.
The Vale’s subtleties appear likely to test more than ball-striking. Afternoon greens that bobble, bouncy fairways, and corners that may or may not be worth challenging all create the sort of strategic irritation that separates the patient from the theatrical.
Lewis, at his best, has enough pedigree to handle that examination.
A Career With Proven Upside
The Englishman’s CV is not short of substance. He has won the Portugal Masters twice on the DP World Tour and finished runner-up behind Justin Thomas at the WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational while playing on the PGA TOUR in 2020.
His only HotelPlanner Tour victory to date came on home soil at the 2018 Bridgestone Challenge. That is not a bad memory to carry into another English week, even if golf has a cruel habit of making past success feel like a postcard from a different person.
The Road to Mallorca has also become a route of renewal for players who have seen both sides of the game’s revolving door. Lewis points to Matteo Manassero and Chris Wood as examples of careers recalibrated rather than quietly packed away.
“There are opportunities and Matteo is the prime example,” he said. “He went from winning DP World Tour events as an 18-year-old to then returning to the HotelPlanner Tour for seven years then gets himself on the PGA TOUR.
“Chris Wood from playing the Ryder Cup to then going to the MENA Tour and now winning on the HotelPlanner Tour again. He’s confident and has belief and understands that there’s a level below that you don’t want to go again.”
It is an honest assessment from a player who knows exactly how thin the margins can be. Golf does not care much for résumés once the first tee shot is in the air. It asks the same question every week: can you still do it now?
Strong Field Awaits In Worcestershire
Lewis will not have the place to himself. The field for the English Open supported by HotelPlanner includes Road to Mallorca Number One MJ Daffue and six-time HotelPlanner Tour winner Benjamin Hebert, which gives the week the useful feel of a proper contest rather than a ceremonial reopening.
Lewis begins his first round at 8:35am on Thursday alongside fellow Englishman Matthew Southgate and South African Daffue. That is a tidy early grouping, and one that should give him a clear measure of where his game sits.
For Tom Lewis, the task is straightforward but not simple: keep doing the tidy things, hole enough putts, avoid the trees when discretion starts whispering, and give himself a chance on Sunday. He is not promising fireworks. Sensibly, he is asking only for a match and a dry bit of kindling.
At this level, that is often enough to start something.
