Hurley returns: “It's just not being as hard on myself as I can be at times”
Gary Hurley roared into contention for the Challenge Tour’s SDC Open in South Africa but still hasn’t decided if he wants to spend his life playing golf after taking an eight-month mental health break.
West Waterford’s former Walker Cup star (31) admitted he was in “a really bad place” at the DP World Tour’s Soudal Open in Belgium last May, where his emotions got the better of him and he missed his seventh cut in a row and his ninth from ten starts.
He applied for a medical exemption for mental health reasons and confessed he almost felt “ashamed” to admit it.
But after spending the last eight months away from the tour working on his mental game and his golf, he continued his impressive return in his first start back yesterday, carding a second successive 68 to lie just four shots off the lead.
“It was a difficult decision but it wasn't a decision either at the same time because I was in a really, really bad place in Belgium,” Hurley said after a closing birdie at Zebula Golf Estate & Spa in Limpopo gave him a bogey-free round.
“It kind of came to a head there with emotions. I didn't actually know at the time if there was a medical (exemption) for it. I just needed to stop.
“I didn't know how long it would need to be for, but I'm feeling good the last three or four months. I'm really happy where I'm at. I've done some good work on my golf for the last while as well.
“So it was the right decision. It was a tough one because at the time, I was almost ashamed of it a bit. But I've come to terms with it. Yeah, I'm in a good place.
“Hopefully, I can stay in a good place and keep getting better and better with my mental health.
“I know my golf game is more than good enough to be to be playing and competing at the highest level. It's just not being as hard on myself as I can be at times.”
Admitting he’s had to ask himself if he wants to keep playing, he said: “I’m still in the middle of that decision, to be honest. I’m really happy with what I'm doing now. And when I said I'd come back, it has to be different. I have to be different. I am this week, I have been for the last while.”
At eight-under par, he was tied for 15th, just four shots behind France’s Alexander Levy, South Africa’s Louis Albertse and Wales’ Rhys Enoch, who led by a shot from big-hitting South African Wilco Nienaber.
“Yeah, I'm pleased,” he said. “I played really nicely actually. I hit a lot of really good putts as well that didn't go in. I feel like there's, there's a low one out there for me.
“It could have been today to be honest. But I'm happy, to make the cut. I'm happy to be here.”
He’s not making any grand predictions for the weekend, however, given the mental hurdles he’s learning to leap.
“Just be open and ready for the challenges that are presented; trying to get excited about the unknown,” he said of his weekend goals. “That's kind of where I'm going after. Just kind of connect to the unknown and be excited about it and allow that to lead you.
“I could go out there and shoot really low and I could shoot a couple over par. You just don't know. But I'm really happy where I'm at. I'm really happy with my game.”
Galway’s Ronan Mullarney shot 72 to miss the four-under cut by three strokes with Ballymena’s Dermot McElroy a shot further back after a 74.
Meanwhile, Sweden’s Jesper Svensson carded a seven-under 65 to share the lead with Dylan Frittelli and Joel Girrbach at the DP World Tour’s Bahrain Championship presented by Bapco Energies, one shot ahead of Spain’s Alejandro del Rey on eight-under.
