Draper eyes US tours after first professional win

MELBOURNE, Feb 14 (Reuters) Former tennis professional Scott Draper achieved his first win among the paid ranks of golfers at the weekend and says his target remains a place on the lucrative tours in the US.

Draper, 32, earned 1,300 dollar for his maiden professional golf win at the New South Wales PGA Championship on Sunday, a figure dwarfed by the near 1.6 million dollar he won in his 12-year career on the ATP Tour before he quit to focus on golf in 2005.

Draper made a brief return to the tennis fold by coaching Lleyton Hewitt before the Australian Open earlier this year but turned down the offer to do the job full-time.

The day after his victory in Sydney on Sunday, which was achieved with a final round 65, Draper flew to Adelaide to try and qualify for the Jacobs Creek Open only to miss out on one of the four qualifying berths available.

But Draper, who won the Australian Open mixed doubles title with Samantha Stosur in his final year on tour, said the win had given him confidence and respect in a second major sport.

''It's given me confidence that I can make it as a golfer, absolutely,'' the former Wimbledon junior doubles champion told reporters on Wednesday.

''It gives me a bit more credibility as well. I think before people thought, 'Scott can play but he's still probably a bit of a tennis player and a sideshow act in golf'.

''Now there's a bit of credibility there, which will be nice.'' Draper, who hopes his future lies first on the secondary Nationwide Tour in the US and then the PGA Tour, will bid next week to qualify for the New Zealand PGA, which is co-sanctionned by the Nationwide Tour.

He then heads to the US in June for another gruelling round of qualifying tilts.

''I'm not daunted by it,'' he said. ''You've got to keep plugging away, qualifying, finishing in the top 20 to get in the next week.

Just keep improving your status each year.

''Obviously I still can improve by quite a fair margin, but I can feel the hard work I've been doing is paying off.'' REUTERS SAM PM1147