Warren Bennett where he want to be

It has taken him far longer than he hoped to reach this point, but Warren Bennett is finally where he wants to be this week - playing with the big boys on the European tour. And fit.

The Dubai Desert Classic represents the opening of a new chapter in the life of the 27-year-old from Watford.

Five years ago Bennett was Britain's outstanding amateur, a player expected to make much bigger waves in the professional game than one of his contemporaries - Lee Westwood.

But only now they do they become regular rivals again. While Westwood, who followed him as British youths champion, rose and rose to his current position of world number six, Bennett struggled with his health, lost sponsors and fell into debt. He feared he would have to give up golf.

"I had two twisted vertebrae and one day I woke up and literally couldn't move," he recalls. "My neck was frozen, I couldn't get out of bed at first and I couldn't touch a club for 10 weeks.

"That wasn't the end of it. I got a European tour card at the end of 1996 and then the neck problems recurred. I didn't know if it would hold out from one week to the next.

"I couldn't see a light at the end of the tunnel and I thought about doing something else, but I have no skills. I was as low as I've ever been, but I just had to keep hoping I would get over it.

"My dad (a self-employed joiner) gave me a loan and that took worry off me. I owe him a lot."

Last season the story changed from one of despair and disappointment to one of fantastic success.

Bennett, top amateur at the 1994 Open and second in the world team championship that year - ahead of a certain Tiger Woods - was in a class of his own on the secondary Challenge Tour.

In one five-week period he won four times and finished second in the other. His earnings of over £70,000 were more than twice as much as anybody else - and with it he qualified for the main circuit again.

A bout of 'flu has delayed his 1999 debut until now and he said: "I just can't wait to get going. I'm healthy and after everything I've had to take on the chin I feel ready.

"This is where I want to be. The Challenge Tour is a good apprenticeship, but it's a hard one too. Lots of good players are struggling to make money, so to do what I did last year exceeded my wildest dreams.

"The competition is obviously going to be a lot tougher now, but I believe I played well enough last season to think that I don't need to change. I just need to keep on doing what I did."

His brother Jason, himself a professional, has become his full-time caddie.

"It makes you feel you have an advantage over others - and it's also good to have someone to chat to off the course, although we also try to keep some space between us."

As well as Westwood, Open and Masters champion Mark O'Meara, Colin Montgomerie and Nick Faldo are among his fellow competitors this week.

So is Justin Rose, another amateur star who has found the transition to the paid ranks a shock to the system.

Fourth in the Open last July, 18-year-old Rose has so far played 12 professional tournaments - seven in Europe, two in Australia, two in South Africa and one in New Zealand - and missed the halfway cut in all of them.

"Your confidence takes a bashing when you come out of amateur golf riding the crest of a wave and then things don't work out," says Bennett.

"It's obviously hard for Justin at the moment, but the experience is going to toughen him up and you've just got to keep playing your game. If you're good enough you'll make it.

"It's amazing what he did as an amateur. At 17 I thought getting in the Middlesex Juniors was a result."

Whether Rose and Bennett can soon start living up to the expectations on them remains to be seen.

In 1994 Royal and Ancient Club secretary Bonallack was so impressed that he said of Bennett: "I wouldn't mind having a bet on him to win the Open in the next 10 years."

There is still time, of course, but Bennett is making no predictions. The 6ft 3in golfer, who jokingly describes himself as "half man, half giraffe", knows the dangers - and pain - of sticking his neck out!