Tales from the Q-School; Dunne Ko but Irish quintet dreaming big
Niall Kearney
Paul Dunne's nightmare season took on more Dantesque proportions yesterday when he was forced to withdraw from today's Final Stage of the European Tour Qualifying School with a niggling wrist injury.
But the dream is still very much alive for Michael Hoey, Robin Dawson, Jonny Caldwell, Niall Kearney and Gavin Moynihan as they tee it up at Lumine Golf Club in Tarragona hoping to finish the gruelling six-round battle among the top 25 and ties.
Hoey, Caldwell and Moynihan know how it feels to win their cards at the most nerve-racking test in golf and will feel for Dunne, who revealed yesterday that he's been battling a wrist injury and simply can't tee it up.
"I won't be playing this week," Dunne said via text message. "Have an ongoing wrist injury that's gotten worse and I'm going to take some time to sort it out."
It's unclear how long he has been suffering with the injury and whether it will require surgery or simply needed rest and rehabilitation.
"I'm trying to get to the bottom of it," Dunne said.
It's a worrying development for the Greystones star (26), who co-led The Open with a round to go at St Andrews in 2015, won his card at the Q-School later that year and then held off the likes of Rory McIlroy to win the 2017 British Masters by three strokes, carding a final round 61.
As a former European Tour winner, he will likely get 20 starts next year and close friend Pádraig Harrington has no fears for the Greystones man’s future.
“Playing a lot of events is a sign of desperation but Paul got on a slippery slope”
"Paul Dunne is capable of winning," Harrington said. "You are not looking at a player who would see 20th or 30th as good results. Paul has won a big event and had top finishes in big events."
Dunne never publicly admitted he was worried about his card but five missed cuts from five starts in the Rolex Series events proved expensive
“I don’t believe he ever thought his card was safe this year,” Harrington said. “He only played 24 events and while in hindsight he might have played more, he expected to play well and started out well.
“Playing a lot of events is a sign of desperation but Paul got on a slippery slope. Once you start missing cuts it gets hard. You are trying to play as well as you can but he got on a slippery slope and off it went.”
Dunne's former Walker Cup teammate Moynihan (25) will be looking to win his card at the Q-School for the third year in a row, and after a strong finish to the European Tour season, he's quietly confident with his game.
The week also bodes well for Hoey, Dawson, Caldwell and Kearney, who arrived in Tarragona with high hopes after coming through the always dangerous Second Stage.
The 156-man field in Tarragona is a global one featuring players from 28 nations as well as 25 European Tour winners with 67 wins between them headed by 2014 Ryder Cup hero Jamie Donaldson, seven-time winner Gonzalo Fernandez Castaño of Spain and former Irish Open winner Brett Rumford of Australia.
Portmarnock Links' Dawson (24) came close to winning his full card last year, and while it's been an up-and-down season for the Tramore native in his rookie year on the Challenge Tour, he believes he's made great strides.
“I’ve realised this year that golf is such a mental game. That’s just one big area I have neglected as an amateur - handling things and performing under pressure.”
“I know I didn't keep top 70 status on the Challenge Tour, but for my first year on tour it's a big learning curve, and I've grown a lot as a player and more as a person," said the Portmarnock Links professional, who will have Douglas international Peter O'Keeffe on his bag.
"I am learning every week and finding out what's best for me. When you are out there as a pro, you are on your own, and it's totally different to the amateur game."
He eagled his penultimate hole in the Second Stage to stamp his ticket to the Final Stage and knows that this will be as much a mental as physical test.
"I've realised this year that golf is such a mental game," said Dawson, who now works with Dr Ed Coughlan, the performance coach who helped Cormac Sharvin win his card through the Challenge Tour rankings this year. “That's just one big area I have neglected as an amateur - handling things and performing under pressure.
A typical scene in Michael Hoey’s hotel room on tour - airport to hotel room.
"The Final Stage is about patience and keeping big numbers off the card, picking off the birdies when you can. They are not the toughest courses, but you have to treat them with a lot of respect."
The move from the demanding PGA Catalunya Resort to a more benign Lumine three years ago has forced players to go lower than ever to win their cards.
As a result, Hoey, Kearney and Caldwell all hope that there's some wind to keep the scoring in check with the cut off for the top 25 falling at 13-under in 2017 and 16-under last year compared to five-under in Girona in 2016
"Sam Horsfield shot 27 under to win the Q-School two years ago, and last year the winner shot 24 under," said 40-year old Hoey, who is making his sixth appearance at the Final Stage. “Everyone says the courses aren’t tough enough, so I am hoping for a bit of wind."
The top 70 and ties who make the cut after 72 holes will win full Challenge Tour cards and the chance to play in up to ten minor European Tour events.
That's huge for Caldwell, who has already won a lesser Challenge Tour card through the Europro Tour rankings (Todd Clements and Richard Mansell will come out of the top five after retaining top 70 status on Challenge Tour) and for Dubliner Kearney (31), who has also been battling to make it to the European Tour for the best part of a decade.
"Obviously it would be great to get the breakthrough and I am playing okay," said the two-time Irish PGA winner, who played for five years on the Challenge Tour before trying his luck in Asia.
“I think I have the intelligence to be able to say, look I am not going anywhere here, so it’s unlikely it’s going to happen. But I feel the opposite.”
"I am still married to the game, that's the problem," he joked. "And I still feel I have something to offer. If I didn't, I would pack it in.
"I think I have the intelligence to be able to say, look I am not going anywhere here, so it's unlikely it's going to happen. But I feel the opposite."
Clandeboye's Caldwell (35) played foursomes with Rory McIlroy in the 2007 Walker Cup and while he wishes he had a euro for every time that nugget is mentioned, he's content with his lot.
"I wouldn't have to play golf any more or make a living at anything," he said with a chuckle. "I just love the game and haven't found anything I enjoy as much.
"I'd much rather be doing this than be stuck behind a desk somewhere or doing retail in the golf industry. As long as I can see progress, I will continue doing what I am doing."
Caldwell knows that McIlroy deserves every cent of the millions he makes.
|He was always going to do that. I was partnering a better player than I could ever imagine,” he said of Royal County Down 12 years ago. “What a talent. And when talent works hard, you win four majors and hundreds of millions. And that’s what he does. He could easily have gone off and been just a good payer or work his ass off and he decided to work his ass off.”
With just 110 players keeping their cards, the European Tour has worked hard to spread the wealth more evenly by restructuring the Race to Dubai Points distribution to give Q-School graduates a better chance of keeping their cards.
“Rory could easily have gone off and been just a good payer or work his ass off and he decided to work his ass off.”
Just three graduates kept theirs in 2018 but the number rose to six this year: Kurt Kitayama, Romain Langasque, Guido Migliozzi, Masahiro Kawamura, Zander Lombard and Jeff Winther.
Hoey, who is a member of the Players Committee, sees further changes coming down the line with the Committee set to approve a change to the number of graduates from the Challenge Tour from 15 to 20, leading to a reduction in the number of Q-School cards from the top 25 and ties to the top 20 and ties.
“A Q-School card is now better,” Hoey said. “The tour should have gone to the points system 12 years ago. You can't fluke your card with one good week now. The Rolex events are only 3.5 times bigger than the smallest event not seven times bigger. They counted for half as much this year as they did the previous few years.”
As for winning his card, Hoey knows it will likely come down to putting and while he was second for Strokes Gained Putting behind Justin Rose this season — her credits caddie Chris Selfridge for helping him with games and drills — he sees the advent of the green book as bad news for golf
“You have to be able to read a green. It’s a skill. But I started using a book a few weeks ago and I couldn’t believe the difference. I think the R&A and USGA got that wrong.”
“The standard is so much higher, and everyone putts well. They are all using green books, which shouldn't be allowed in my opinion. It's down to green books and putting coaching. You have to be able to read a green. It's a skill. But I started using a book a few weeks ago and I couldn't believe the difference.
“A couple of putts I thought were pretty straight, but the ebook said left to right. It's hard to trust it but it's unbelievable. I'd never have seen that myself. You might have two putts a day where you are unsure of the read.
“The book is always right. I think the R&A and USGA got that wrong. I know the reduced the percentages but it's a skill a huge skill. The game now is more about equipment and green reading and it takes the feel away from the game, which isn't great. I'd have to play my best to get a good card. Then again, if you just miss out on the main you, you have won quarter of a million, so it is not that bad.”
After 17 years on tour, 8-time winner (5 on the European Tour) Hoey remains upbeat about his career though he admits it’s a challenge to make it work financially..
“I enjoy the competition but I want to take a caddie and that's €45,000 a year so I have to pull in €150,000 to make some decent money. It's tough, but I do enjoy it … in a weird way.
“You are not competing with GB&I players any more. France have 15 good players on tour, there are South Koreans, players from Thailand, good Chinese players, South Africans. It's ridiculous. As Padraig said, if you are not the top 1-2 amateur in your country, you are not going to do much damage. He's probably right.
“Next year will be the interesting year. It's likely going to be top 20 on Challenge Tour who get cards next years so guys who get cards here might be better off looking at Challenge Tour if the season doesn’t start week. Even if you just make the cut this week, you will get into Leopard Creek, which is opposite Hong Kong. And it gives you Kenya, Australia, Leopard, Germany, KLM — 10 small European Tour events.
Q-School might go to 20 and ties rather than 25 and ties. A 20-20 systems might be fairer. People on the committee are convinced of that and we will vote on it soon.
Hopefully Cormac [Sharvin] won't be the only one with a card. He'll be ahead of everyone anyway. Even if one of us wins Q-School this week, Cormac will be six spots ahead of that player.”
Q-School by the numbers
€2,030 Entry fee
842 Entries at Q-School this year
156 players at this week’s Final Stage
108 holes to play (6 rounds)
67 European Tour wins by the field
112 Europeans in action (71.1 percent)
72 Continental Europeans teeing it up (46.1 percent)
44 Rest of the World players (28.2 percent)
40 GB&I players (25.6 percent)
28 Nationalities
25 European Tour winners
25 European Tour cards up for grabs
23 Englishmen dominate the field
10 USA players
5 Irish entrants
6 Q-School graduates kept their cards this year
5 Continents represented at Lumine Beach Club
2 Courses to tackle this week (The Lakes & The Hills)
1 Ryder Cup winner in action (Jamie Donaldson)
1 amateur (Icelander Bjarki Petursson)
