The 50-year-old Scotsman insisted being a tour player isn’t as “awesome” as it looks because so much practice time is taken up doing the same things.

He told Today’s Golfer magazine: “People think it’s awesome being a tour player, but the actual stuff we do in our practice, day in and day out, is so boring.

“A lot of the time it’s five shots at different paces.

“And then we’re always working on our posture, set-up and alignment.

“As Tiger [Woods] said, it’s the fundamentals you have to work on first. Everything follows on.”

Stephen believes it is important for golfers to be “self-motivated and driven” so they can always push themselves to improve.

He said: “You have to be self-motivated and driven in this game.

“One thing I’ve learned over the years is you’ve got to go into your practice time with a lot of conviction and a purpose.

“If I’m off for a week, I might work on shallowing my swing or making sure everything is on plane.

“Then, going into a tournament, everything I work on that week is all about the target.

“I like to play the golf course on the range.”