He said that it’s very exciting to be able to play the best of the best on the tour and that a changed mindset helped in his progression this year. "I'm now going to be competing week in, week out with the best in the world,” said Ward in an interview with DerbyshireLive. "It's very exciting, the money to be earned is incredible. "With a tour card, there's always the chance of turning professional - I've got time to practise, so maybe one day I can do it full-time." He added: "I played seven games overall and won most of them comfortably. I played really well, nobody really troubled me. "For five years now I've been trying to get better - I was playing before that but only really started trying properly when I was 16. "I've played in the qualifying school five times and have never really been good enough, but this time I had the right mindset, I was feeling confident, and everything went in."