Murphy embraces the pressure as he seeks fairytale win in Alfred Dunhill Links
An archive picture of John Murphy. Photo by Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images)
Kinsale's John Murphy has vowed to "embrace" the pressure as he goes into the final round of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship with a chance to clinch a life-changing victory and deny Shane Lowry his first win for more than two years.
Like Rory McIlroy in 2007, the Cork man (23) has a chance to go from Walker Cup player to European Tour cardholder in the space of a few weeks as he goes into the final round tied for second with Richard Bland and Ryder Cup duo Shane Lowry and Tyrrell Hatton on 11-under par, just three shots behind former Masters champion Danny Willett.
Playing in just his third European Tour event, and only his 13th as a professional since he joined the paid ranks following the Walker Cup in May, Murphy fired a bogey-free, five-under 67 on the Old Course to find himself in the final group on Sunday with the 2016 Masters champion.
Victory would give him a two-year exemption on the European Tour, but a third-place finish would also be enough to put him inside the top 125 in the Race to Dubai Points list who will have full playing privileges next season.
"It's hard not to look at the leaderboard when you are sitting in second place in the tournament," confessed Murphy, who knows how it feels to win at the Home of Golf, having captured the prestigious St Andrews Links Trophy after a playoff on the Old Course in 2018.
"When you are not familiar with this environment, you are obviously thinking of all those things, the rewards, the money, everything. But at the end of the day, it's something you have to put to the back of your mind pretty quickly.
"I am coming up against a lot of strong players tomorrow and I have to make sure I keep my mind in tune to be ready for that. I know they are not going to be giving anything up, so I have to go and take it off them if I want it."
With Scottish caddie Stephen Neilson rather than KInsale’s Shane O’Connell on his bag this week — “I am unfamiliar with these courses so I thought I’d try to get someone who knows them”— Murphy has played almost flawless golf for three days and hopes he can overcome the nerves and pressure on the final day.
"I played lovely, put the ball in position a lot and just stuck to what I know, I guess," said Murphy, who has made an excellent start to his pro career on the Challenge Tour, picking up six cheques and three top 11 finishes from 11 starts. "I tried to pick good targets and make good swings, and thankfully I had enough to shoot a round of 67, and I didn't feel it should have been any better or worse, so I will go and go and give it another good to tomorrow."
He started on the back nine, birdied the driveable 10th and 18th and then followed birdies at the first and fifth with a two at the eighth, where he hit a four-iron to less than a foot.
"I am only three shots off the lead, so stranger things have happened," the University of Louisville graduate said of his hopes of victory. "I am normally fairly comfortable when I am up towards the top of the leaderboard.
"I know tomorrow will be a little bit different, and there will be a couple of outside agencies that will probably add a bit of pressure on, but that's all part of it. At the end of the day, I am still learning.
"I only turned professional a couple of months ago so I am still trying to grasp the feelings and just trying to embrace them and learn from them. So we will see how it goes tomorrow.
"I could be talking to you tomorrow night having shot 80 or talking to you, and my life will be turned around. Either way, regardless of what happens, we will move on."
For a while it looked as though England's Daniel Gavins would take a comfortable lead into the final round, but he dropped five shots as he finished with three successive sixes at Kingsbarns to drop back to tied sixth with Joakim Lagergren and Jeff Winther, four shots off the pace on 10-under after a 71.
Willett (33) shot a bogey-free, six-under 66 to take the lead on 14-under as two-time winner Hatton shot 71, Bland a sensational 64 and Lowry an accomplished 67 in the worst of the wind. Lowry has not won since the captured The Open at Royal Portrush in 2019, 26 months ago, but he admits it would be a dream to win at the Home of Golf despite battling some Ryder Cup fatigue.
"There's a bit of fatigue, all right," Lowry said. "Obviously, it's a bit of a comedown from last week to this week, but it's still a big tournament in its own right, and I'm a competitor. I'm a competitive person.
"When I come play, I want to do well. So I'm out there giving it my all and managed to play some nice golf over the last three days, I'm in a nice position now going into tomorrow, and I look forward to it."
He added: "Anybody that's involved in golf or into golf and has been here knows that this place is probably one of the most special places in the world, if not the most special place.
"So to be able to lift the trophy on that green will be incredible."
