Murphy looks to Power for inspiration as he lives the dream on 17-Mile Drive
John Murphy. Picture: Golffile
Kinsale's John Murphy is no stranger to hard work, but he knows he must work on the right things to make his golfing dreams come true.
So when he joins world number 50 Séamus Power and makes his PGA Tour debut on a dream sponsor's invitation in this week's AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, he has a two-pronged mission - play well and use his practice rounds to pick the brain of one of the most in-form players in the game.
"Someone who has done what he has done in the game I just worked as hard as he has, I want to hear about," Murphy said of Power, whose US career parallels his own.
"Hard work is so important, but I can only get you so far if you're not working on the right things," added Murphy, who will return to the PGA Tour in May to play the AT&T Byron Nelson as a reward for winning the prestigious Byron Nelson Award in 2020.
He received it as "the top graduating senior in all of men's collegiate golf who demonstrates high academics, a high level of play, as well as good character and integrity throughout their entire collegiate career."
Having come through the ranks, winning the St Andrews Links Trophy and the Mullingar Scratch Cup and excelling at the University of Louisville with two wins, the 23-year-old wants to take another big step in his professional career this week.
He rode the momentum of a successful if losing, Walker Cup appearance to earn a Challenge Tour card last year, making his name at October's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, where he played in the final group on the Old Course at St Andrews, finishing tied ninth behind former Masters champion Danny Willett.
Now it's time for a new experience.
He's already played the three venues that will host this week — Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill and Monterey Peninsula — and practised at Olympic Club in San Francisco with its Cork-born President Paul O'Driscoll, Murphy admits the nerves are already kicking, but he refuses to fight them.
"It's going to be cool," said Murphy, who has been drawn with Seamus Power and Dermot Desmond in partnership with Gerry McManus with their first outing at Spyglass Hill tomorrow. "There are people from back home who are coming over. And there'll be a good Irish contingent watching. It's going to be different to other events. There'll be a few added nerves, knowing you're teeing up for the first time in a PGA Tour event. That's something you have to put to the back of your mind. They're natural feelings. There's no point in trying to deny them or hide them; they're going to happen. I'm sure once I get off that first tee shot, I'll be fine."
He hopes to play up to 35 events this year and having played 15 as a professional last year and made nine cuts, he feels ready to fight for a DP World Tour card, safe in the knowledge that he doesn't have to play perfect golf.
"Growing up, you hear about how good the guys on tour are, and you are watching TV every week, and you are seeing good shot after good shot because they are showing highlights obviously," said Murphy, who has an excellent coach in Ian Stafford. "People think professional golfers don't hit bad shots, that they are flawless, but I am lucky enough to have played with some of the best players last year and I realised it is not a matter of hitting good shot after good shot; it is also a matter of hitting fewer bad shots.
“I remember growing up, there might be certain times when we couldn’t play, so it’s about making it as accessible as possible”
"So it gave me comfort knowing that, certainly when I played with them, I didn't feel like I was that far behind at all and the gaps are very minute at this point. So it is just trying to close those gaps in any way possible is what it is all about."
A strong driver of the ball, Murphy knows the key is not just found on the practice ground but between the ears.
"I think it's easy to say, but I think confidence is certainly something that all the best players just seem to ooze, they don't lack confidence in any way," he said. "They just seem to be so tidy with no real blunders or looseness in their game."
Having played so well in the Alfred Dunhill Links last year, he's hoping the same format will lead to a similar result this week.
"I am hopefully going to go out there and have fun on the golf course help my playing partners," he said. "That normally filters into my golf game. If I can do that and enjoy myself, it's cliché, but decent golf comes with it, so hopefully, we can implement that again this week and see where the week takes us."
Given his obvious social gifts and his golfing skill, he clearly has it all, but he's making no bold predictions as he prepares to head to South Africa for seven Challenge Tour events later this month.
"I know I am being cliché as always, but I will take it week by week," he said. "You can't get too ahead of yourself because there are a lot of things out of my control now, so if I can just play good golf, that will take care of itself.”
Before heading away, Murphy participated in a photoshoot for Golf Ireland’s new five-year Strategic Plan and when asked the key to getting more Irish players on tour, he said greater participation by youngsters at an earlier age — one of the key components of the new plan — was key.
“It all stems from, firstly, the more people you have playing at an early age the more chance you have of a crop of people coming through that are going to be successful. Implementing that strategy, to make sure they have got the chance of playing golf at an early age.
“I remember growing up, there might be certain times when we couldn’t play, so it’s about making it as accessible as possible. Give kids a chance to develop and play. Having the strength in depth of underage golf is important and will give more opportunities for more players to burst through on the professional scene.”