Paul Dunne returns: "How I do is not going to affect the important things in life for me"
Paul Dunne
He’s endured the vicious circle that comes with loss of form and his card, undergone wrist surgery and the isolation of the COVID-19 lockdown.
But now it’s time for Paul Dunne to return to action for the Betfred British Masters at Close House tomorrow and he’s determined to appreciate something he once took for granted — the sheer joy he feels after that pure strike sends the ball towards his intended target.
The start of the European Tour’s UK Swing represents a happy return for the Greystones man (27) who won his maiden European Tour title at the Newcastle venue in 2017 when he chipped in at the last for a closing round of 61 and a three-stroke win over Rory McIlroy.
Dunne won €562,500 and moved to 88th in the world after that win, eventually rising as high as 65th the following April as he forced the now world No 1 Jon Rahm to dig deep to win the Spanish Open in Madrid.
Little went Dunne’s way for the remainder of 2018 and while there were a few flashes of his old self early the next year, including a tie for fourth in the Made in Denmark, he missed 12 of 14 cuts, injured his hand practising the week before Q-School and hasn’t hit a competitive shot since.
This week he’s playing for a total prize fund of €1.25 million and a first-place cheque for €196,690 and excited about what lies ahead.
The COVID-19 shut down proved to be a blessing in disguise for Dunne, who was slowly getting back to fitness following surgery when golf was shut down.
He spent several weeks on a farm in Alabama in the US with his partner, seeing his coach Eric Eshelman as he planned a tentative return to the European Tour with a more tenuous Category 18 European Tour membership, which means he sits behind the Challenge Tour and Qualifying School graduates in the queue when it comes to getting starts.
He plays in the British Masters, where Gavin Moynihan has snuck into the field from the reserve list, as a past winner of the tournament. But while he does not know how many of the six UK Swing events he will play, his goal is to win again and regain his full European Tour status.
“Getting card back through the starts I get, that's the goal,” he said way back in January, long before COVID-19 emerged. “I will try to win a tournament basically. That's it.”
Pals Pádraig Harrington and Shane Lowry were quick to say encouraging things when Dunne got caught on the slippery slope in 2019 and lost his card.
Both believe the Wicklowman has the game to win tournaments and see him bouncing back quickly.
“It's nice to get compliments like that from players who have achieved with what they have achieved,” said Dunne, who admits he lost confidence in his iron play last year and exacerbated the problem by practising excessively. “But it doesn’t change the fact that I have to go out and do something. I am hoping I can prove them right.”
“It just ends up consuming your thoughts.”
Doing that means avoiding a repeat of 2019.
“My iron play wasn't good enough last year,” he said as he spent January practising his putting in his bedroom. “That was the big difference in my performances. My putting wasn't that far from where it normally is. I didn't drive the ball great but that would never have been a strength of mine. But I didn't think I drove it significantly worse than when I had good years. That wasn't a big difference.
“The two big areas where I didn't perform as well were iron play and hole outs around the green. I know that sounds kind of silly but in a good year, I holed out 30 times around the greens. Last year a lot less. Those shots matter and a lot of that is having a bit of luck and they go in instead of hanging on the edge. The iron play is probably the big area that really stood out for me.
“That's where the drop off in form was. When you are in good positions, you are giving yourself a lot fewer birdie chances and putting yourself in trouble to try and save par more often. Did i make changes? Not really. You are always doing little fiddles here and there. There was probably an element of getting a little over-obsessed by it.
The winner of the British Masters at Close House, Irishman Paul Dunne, reflects on his maiden European Tour victory: pic.twitter.com/n8GWzAijpB
— ITV News Tyne Tees (@itvtynetees) October 1, 2017
“Iron play has never been a massive problem for me so it was probably something that needed less attention than more attention. My strike just wasn’t as good and I was spinning it a lot more and struggling when there was wind. I tried a lot of things, including altering the equipment. It’s then you realise there are a lot of moving parts.
'“It was tiring mentally because it is hard to compartmentalise it. It just ends up consuming your thoughts. Is there a way out of it (the vicious circle)? Yeah. You shoot 65. But that’s the chicken and egg thing. The 65 comes from getting yourself out of it, rather than the 65 getting you out of it. So I don’t know. I didn’t figure it out. If I had…..”
Dunne never felt his card was under threat until other players in similar positions in the Race to Dubai started to race past him with good results over the last few, crucial weeks.
“I’d played like that before so that’s why I wasn’t overly concerned about it. I just hadn’t played like that for so many weeks in a row. It wasn’t like everything was going great and I just got hit by a bus. It felt like it always did but I just didn’t have as many good weeks. Hopefully, I am stacking them up for a different year.
“All my years have been different. 2016 was a learning year and 2017, I played consistently quite well. But in 2018 I played my best for a short spell and then struggled a bit. I played better that year than 2017 when I won. But I just did it for five or six weeks. I had a lot of confidence in my long game and it was just easy.”
Bar tennis elbow in his tennis days and the odd scrape or groin strain playing GAA or soccer, Dunne has never been laid low by injury before.
His winter routine saw him drop his girlfriend to work, stopping on the way for coffee before heading to the gym for a two-hour spell, working with bands to strengthen his hand and wrist. He writes journals to help himself mentally sharp. But being happy in his day to day is what helps him most.
“My mind gets too caught up in the future and what’s going to happen rather than just getting stuck in to what you are doing now,” he said of his mental state last winter. “As they say, if you love the process, you don’t really need good results. You are happy in the day to day.”
Caddie Darren Reynolds was another casualty last season and veteran Gerry Byrne will tote the bag for the remainder of this season and become Dunne’s nominated “buddy” for all meals as he enters the strictly controlled European Tour bubble for the next six weeks.
“I am happy to be going back out and I’m looking forward to seeing what I’ve got,” Dunne said as he drove to the ferry on Sunday. “You are always heading into the unknown with golf.
“My mind gets too caught up in the future and what’s going to happen rather than just getting stuck into what you are doing now”
“I feel pretty comfortable with what I am doing but you never know how that translates into scores. I am confident we have a six-week stretch where there will be some good results in there. It just depends whether they come at the beginning, the middle or the end.”
He’s more concerned with how he will cope mentally with being in the European Tour bubble for six weeks without seeing anyone bar his caddie.
“It’s very strict. No one is allowed in except for your caddie and even inside the bubble, everyone is assigned a buddy. But your buddy has to be your caddie. So inside the hotel, you are only allowed to eat with your caddie and only hang out with your caddie. It is pretty strict, which is the best way to go. '
“I am interested to see how many people will stick it out of for six weeks. I’d imagine a few will get tired after a few weeks and want to go home. I am planning on how it goes and stick it out for the six weeks. I almost feel sorry for the caddies because we are the moody ones.”
Since returning from the US, Dunne has had time to work closely with his physiotherapist Dr Enda King and feels confident he can cope physically with the return to the stresses of tournament play and practice.
He paid close attention to the PGA Tour return to action but has no plans to follow in the footsteps of Bryson DeChambeau, who pipped him for the NCAA title and beat in him the quarter-finals of the US Amateur in 2015.
“I played a bit with him that summer of 2015, and I think what he’s done is really impressive,” Dunne said. “Everyone has tried to increase their speed but nobody seemed to have the significant jump in a short period of time as he had. All credit to him but I don’t think he is doing himself any favours taking about cameras on him for his brand.
“But in terms of golf, it is very impressive to watch and you look at it and start questioning whether it is sustainable. It seems to be working for him.”
Dunne is regarded by many as a potential major winner and Ryder Cup player and while last year was an unexpected blip, he remains confident in his ability
“I am fairly optimistic. Even though it felt that I played as badly as I could have, I still almost kept my card. So that gives me confidence. It wasn’t like I played well and struggled. That proves to me that when I am playing well, I don’t have to worry about any of that stuff. Job No 1 is to make sure I get back there first and push on.
“Golf is a long road with lots of ups and downs and you have to take them on the chin. But I enjoyed the break after a tough last year. In fact, it took me a bit longer than I thought I would to start missing it.”
Mental well being is important in every job and Dunne is far more relaxed about his career post-lockdown than he was before.
“It puts things in perspective,” he said. “How I do is not going to affect the important things in life for me. The important things are in a good place for me right now. The rest just affects my sense of satisfaction and my bank balance but apart from that, I am pretty happy with how everything is going.
“So I am good. And I also feel I am going out there at the minute and just playing naturally and feeling good about where my game is headed and I am not stressed about it. Whether it will translate itself into good scores or not, we will have to wait and see.
“I am enjoying the feeling of going out and striking the ball well. And having an appreciation for the good shots and not brushing them off like they were nothing. It’s about enjoying the fact that the game is in there. I definitely have an appreciation for that after chasing it for so long. All I needed was six months off.
“I don’t feel like I have anything to prove to myself. I want to go out there and enjoy competing, hitting shots under pressure, putting myself in uncomfortable situations”
