In part two of our series commemorating the 10th anniversary of Scotland’s historic Eisenhower Trophy win, Herald Sport speaks to Callum Macaulay about golf’s highs and lows …

Callum Macaulay is as honest and as open as they come. In fact, if you attached him to a lie detector, the level of inactivity on the polygraph would probably lead to the lie detector itself being accused of fibbing before being hastily connected up to another lie detector to test it out.

Hindsight, in all walks of life, is a wonderful thing so asking the canny, likeable and erudite Macaulay to pinpoint what happened to a professional career which promised much comes with a typically candid assessment.

In a sporting world of stifled, manipulated soundbites and bland, PR-managed blurbs and blurts, the 34-year-old’s frankness has always been an endearing quality.

“For me, I thought I’d made it,” he reflected on a stint on the European Tour which was almost rewarded with victory in the 2009 Madeira Islands Open during his rookie campaign.

“That was a huge mistake. Despite losing my card at the end of the year, I had made money. I got a new house, a new car. But I stopped working as hard as I had been. Once you go like that, it’s very hard to get it back when things start going wrong.”

Things had been going along quite the thing for Macaulay who worked “my backside off” during his college years in the US before becoming one of the country’s best amateurs in that annus mirabilis of 2008 when he won the Scottish championship and then played his part in Scotland’s romp to World Amateur Team Championship glory with Wallace Booth and Gavin Dear. “It got to the point where I felt unbeatable as an amateur,” he added.

Scotland were unbeatable in Australia too, as they raced to a nine-shot win to lift the Eisenhower Trophy. Anything that stands out from that week? “What, apart from the hangover afterwards,” Macaulay replied with a chortle.

“Well, the wind on the final day was blowing a hoolie. You could see other guys on the range before the last round and they all looked a bit apprehensive. But for us it was like a normal day at Gailes or Lundin Links. We’d seen it all before.”

Scottish amateur golf had never witnessed a win like this before, though. As for Macaulay? Well, the good times continued to roll as he eased through all three stages of the European Tour’s qualifying school to earn a place at the top table for the 2009 season.

With his supportive dad, Harry, ambling along beside him as his caddie, it was a refreshing, alluring and effective alliance. A closing 64 in that aforementioned Madeira event left Macaulay just one shot shy of a maiden tour win. He would never come close again, though, as the strains, stresses, doubts and anxieties of professional golf took a hefty toll.

“For the first couple of years, there wasn’t a care in the world but it gradually became a real burden on my life,” he said. “My first son was just about to be born and things were not good. I know the word depression gets thrown about but if I wasn’t depressed then I was awfully close to it.

“I was never going to get diagnosed but I was in a horrible stage of my life. I’ve always been a worrier. Once I got on the golf course I didn’t feel like I was under great pressure but somewhere deep down there was something getting at me. I had to get away.

“I remember flying home from a Challenge Tour event in Ireland and my usual taxi driver picked me up. He knew I was a golfer and I said to him in the car, ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do’. He said, ‘try taxi driving’.

“A couple of weeks later I started. It was the best thing I ever done. It was a quick fix. Money was coming in right away. I kept going golf wise but at the start of 2017 I played two events on the EuroPro Tour but said to my wife, ‘I can’t do this to the family anymore’.”

Macaulay is now waiting on his amateur status being re-instated. He is still involved in golf, through his role as a consultant with FirstPoint USA, the firm which helps young sporty folk secure scholarships at American colleges.

“I do miss the tour life,” he added. “I see the boys who I was friendly with doing well. You are happy for them but gutted at the same time you are not one of them.

“I’ve experienced a heck of lot. I came from nothing in terms of ability but got on tour then went backwards. I’ve been through most of the emotions you can experience as a golfer.”

One experience still resonates like no other, though “The Eisenhower Trophy win stands out more than anything,” said Macaulay with justifiable pride.