Returning to the PGA Tour in the New Year will be like going back to square one for Kenneth Ferrie.

After two-and-a-half months of gruelling qualifying school competition, the 29-year-old Englishman clinched his place on the main tour with a 14th-place finish.

"Obviously it's going to be a learning curve for me," Ferrie told Setanta Sports News.

"I spent the last three or four years knowing where I'm going in Europe, knowing which hotels to stay in and what airports to fly to. I know the courses and don't need to play as many practice rounds.

"Obviously I'm going back to square one but I've always enjoyed new challenges and doing new things. That's what I see this as - a huge challenge. I think playing against the best players in the world will bring the best out of me."

Ferrie first came into the spotlight on the final day of the 2006 US Open, where he was challenging for the title and his association with the Masters has also garnered him some attention.

"I did a bit with Sports Illustrated for the Masters and ended up being on the cover. So when I'm signing autographs, I hear people say: 'Who's this?' They say: 'That's Ken Ferrie, the guy on Sports Illustrated.'

"It's good because they follow the sport fanatically in America. It's something I'm looking forward to, playing in front of a knowledgeable crowd who know who I am and know golf very well.

"If I could win in my rookie year, it would be fantastic. It's not something I can control, what other people can do. A realistic goal I like to set this year is to compete in the FedEx Cup and go through a couple of rounds in that. As I do in the European, if I can make Valderrama in Europe, it'll be an okay year but not brilliant.

"If I'm making the top 60 every year and obviously in America it's a limited schedule in my first year so if I make it into the FedEx Cup and go a couple of rounds, I'll be happy with that."