Golfer Will Haddrell had a message yesterday for those who questioned his inclusion in Bermuda?s team for the Eisenhower Cup: ?I?m here because I performed when it mattered?.

The 23-year-old Bermudian qualified to represent the Island in South Africa this week by finishing second behind Robert Vallis at the Amateur Strokeplay Championships at Port Royal earlier this year.

However, his selection caused some grumbling among a small group of local golfers who missed out ? mainly because Haddrell has not lived in Bermuda for many years and was a virtual unknown before the strokeplay event.

Under Bermuda Golf Association rules, to qualify for the World Amateurs, a player must finish in the top 12 of the Order of Merit in the lead-up to the strokeplay tournament and must then place in the top three to be guaranteed a spot on the team.

But if any Bermudian golfer is a full-time student overseas and unable to gain Order of Merit points by taking part in local tournaments, the BGA are entitled to exempt that person from having to finish in the top 12 ? as long as they have been kept informed of that player?s performances in events overseas.

As a member of Texas Tech?s top-tier college golf team for the past four years, former England Under-18 player Haddrell believes he followed these guidelines and was rewarded accordingly ? adding that he was mystified by the ruckus his selection provoked.

?I was surprised by it I have to admit ? though I tried not to take it too seriously,? he said from the team hotel last night ahead of the first round which starts today.

?I took it with a pinch of salt really. I don?t know who specifically was complaining about it but what I tried to do was keep myself to myself and let my golf do the talking for me.

?I?ve done all that has been asked of me. I?ve played top level collegiate golf in the US and I have competed in big amateur tournaments as well in England and in Europe so I feel like I deserved to be here on merit.

?At the end of the day, all of us in contention had an equal chance of getting on the team and I took it and others didn?t. If anybody?s got a problem with it then they?ve just got to beat me.?

Meanwhile, the big-hitting Haddrell revealed that when this tournament has finished he will return to Texas Tech to complete a graduate degree in finance and he is also seriously considering trying to get on the newly-created and potentially lucrative US Pro Tour.

?The US Pro Tour is a new tour which basically incorporates most of the mini-tours all over the US into one,? he explained.

?The plan I think is to have four majors just like they do on the PGA Tour with purses in the region of a million dollars. That?s definitely something I?m building towards because if I?m being honest, I?ve played a lot of competitive amateur golf and I now want the challenge and excitement of playing for money.

?I?ve got my education to fall back on, but I owe it to myself having spent so much time and money playing golf over the last few years to give it a real go.?

Focusing on the Eisenhower Cup, Haddrell said the Bermuda team ? which also includes Vallis and Nick Mansell ? were ready for the challenge over the course of the next four rounds at the tricky De Zalze and Stellenbosch Golf Clubs ? though he was more cautious than team captain Bob Legere was the previous day about their chances of beating the Island?s best-ever 16th-place finish at the inaugural tournament in 1958.

?We?ve got a very good team no question, but back then there were only 28 teams and now there are 75 so it?s a completely different situation,? he said.

?Saying that I think we?ve got a very good chance of being successful. We?re all playing well at the moment and we?ve had four good practice rounds and think we?ve got a pretty good handle on the two courses. It should be a good week.?

Michael Sims has a good chance of progressing to the second phase of PGA Tour Q School after the opening two rounds of play at the Cypresswood Golf Course in Spring, Texas.

The Bermuda Open runner-up is three-under after 36 holes at the 7,267-yard course and finds himself in a tie for 14th out of 84 golfers.

Sims shot an even par 72 on Tuesday but followed this up with a 69 yesterday.

He must finish in the top 26 and ties in order to advance to the second of three stages ? with the attraction of earning a highly-coveted players card on either the PGA or Nationwide Tour if he makes it though the extremely competitive process.