Former prisoner aiming to write next chapter of redemption at The Open

Australian golfer Ryan Peake is preparing to write the next chapter of his remarkable redemption story at The 153rd Open Championship this week.

In March this year, the left-hander qualified for the fourth and final major of the year, at Royal Portrush, with victory at the 104th New Zealand Open presented by Sky Sport.

That first ever professional victory, on his Asian Tour debut, took place a little over 10 years after a conviction and five-year jail sentence for assault aged just 21. A promising youth golfer, Peake had lost his way and became a member of a notorious motorcycle gang in Australia.

Now 31, Peake warmed up for his big date in Northern Ireland with a T33 finish behind ultimate champion Scott Vincent at International Series Morocco, the fourth of 10 elevated Asian Tour events that offer a pathway onto the LIV Golf League. Things could have been even better too – Peake sat T12 following a five-under third round of 68.

It’s a remarkable recovery, from the lows of incarceration to the highs of elite competitive golf against some of the world’s best. It is one that may not have happened at all had Peake not been contacted by former coach Ritchie Smith while in jail.

Smith, who works with fellow Australians such as PGA Tour winner Min Woo Lee and sister Minjee Lee, a three-time major champion among others, wrote to Peake while in prison to offer words of encouragement for a player he had worked with as a 17-year-old. Peake responded with an apologetic letter of his own, and from that point on, his future changed.

Peake explained: “For someone of his calibre to reach out to someone like me and pretty much drag me out of the trenches, you know, it doesn't speak volumes on me, it speaks volumes on him.”

“There was