Dunne hits the front in Punta Cana
Paul Dunne
Paul Dunne would love to join Europe's elite band of transatlantic players and he took a step in the right direction when he grabbed a share of the lead in the PGA Tour's Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship.
Taking advantage of a sponsor’s invitation, the Greystones man (26) made eight birdies in a six-under 66 to join Australian Matt Jones and Joel Dahmen at the top in the Dominican Republic.
After a mixed start on the tougher back nine, where he mixed three birdies with two bogeys to turn in one-under par, he reeled off five birdies in eight holes in a sparkling homeward 31 as the trio of leaders finished the day one stroke ahead of Sungae Im, who must win if he's to break into the world's top 50 and qualify for the Masters.
Dunne would have to finish in the top 10 this week and then win next week's Valero Texas Open to make it to Augusta.
But he's hoping he can at least get to Texas for the second year running in an event where he tied for fifth with Seamus Power last year to get the top-10 exemption for the Texas event having gone on to tie for eighth in Houston last year.
"I like the golf course. I feel comfortable here," said Dunne, who was pleased to receive a late call up that fills a gap in the European Tour schedule before the Trophee Hassan II in Morocco from April 25-28.
"The couple of loose tee shots I normally hit in a round, I can get away with here, so it plays to my strengths a little bit. The breeze blowing for the week is nice, we're used to that.
"So yeah, I feel comfortable here. Just a matter of getting some feels in my game to where I can take it to the course."
He could do with a good week after a mixed start to the year and he's patiently waiting for his game to click as the meat of the season approaches.
"I've played six tournaments in Europe this year, kind of a bit all over the place,” said Dunne, who had just 23 putts, including just 11 on the back nine. “It's been fairly average. I missed the first two cuts and that next four I make one third place, the rest of them average enough.
"Things are starting to get better, I'm starting to get back in the swing of tournaments. Yeah, I guess tournament golf's so different from practicing. I tend to take a bit of time off over the winter, so it's nice to get a bit of a stretch going.
"To get this invite is great for me because it kind of bridges a gap where I wouldn't have had a tournament for another five or six weeks. It's nice to fill the gap there with a great event and hopefully I can make the most of it."
As he starts on the easier front nine today, he's hoping to hit the ground running and while playing regularly in the US will require his breaking into the world's top-50, he's up for that challenge.
"I'd like to play a split schedule like a lot of the Europeans, but I've got to get top-50 in the world before that," he said. "So 166 [in the world] is a long way from that, so got a lot of work to do.
Seamus Power is tied 65th after coming back from four-over after eight to post a level par 72.
The West Waterford man birdied the first and fourth before making an eagle three at the seventh to finish the day where he started, but Graeme McDowell finished with a double bogey five at the ninth for a one-over 73.
McDowell was two-over for the day with four holes to go, having also started on the back nine. But after birdies at the sixth, seventh and eighth got him to one under, he made a double bogey five at the ninth to shoot 73 and share 81st.
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