Paul Dunne has ruled out any thought of contesting the end-of-season Web.com final series and the likelihood of earning his PGA Tour card.
Dunne tees-up tomorrow is his first PGA Championship but struggling to find the form that earned him victory in last year’s British Masters and a share of success earlier this year in the Golf Sixes.
As well, there’s back-to-back top-10s earlier this year on the PGA Tour and with his PGA Tour earnings this year a few thousand dollars short of $300,000.
The Greystones golfer arrived in St. Louis having ended near tail-of-the-field in last week’s WGC – Bridgestone Invitation and also drop two spots to be now ranked World No. 81.
Dunne got his first look at Bellerive on Monday and was looking to blow off the cobwebs after a disappointing Bridgestone invitational last week.
“I just played awful last week hitting like 30 % of fairways and 40 % of greens but in saying that I am getting a little better each day while it’s been good on the range,” he said.
“I am kind of waiting for it to click. My game hasn’t looked far away for a while but it just hasn’t felt all that good. We will just keep going. It’s a bit of a rough patch and I just have to be patient, I suppose. I am not very good at doing that.
“This Bellerive course is scoreable but the greens are slow. They say they are going to wait to cut them. If they firm them up, then it will be tricky. But if you find fairways, there are a couple of holes on the front nine where you have got to just make par on. The par-three sixth is a tough par three.
“There’s one hole they’ve turned a par five into a par four and apart from that there a few holes that are three-wood, wedge that are good chances.
“There is a score out there. I don’t think the scoring will be bad. There are no secrets out there. At least it is wider than Akron. Akron was narrow but there was no trouble. Trees, pitch out, bogey. Very hard to make a double.”
Dunne, and among a strong contingent of four Irish this week, is eligible to enter the secondary PGA Web.com finals starting later next month but unlike countryman Seamus Power who just scrapped across the line last season to win back his main tour card, Dunne’s not interested.
Well, not yet in his short pro career.
“I have no interest really, to be honest. I could play those Web.com Tour playoff events that are coming up as I am in them, but I am not going to play them,” he stated.
“I have no immediate desire to play in America. If it happens and I start playing very, then yes. But until then, until I am in that top 50 in the world, then no.
“And also if I were in the top 50 it would mean I’d be playing much better than I am now.”
Dunne will tee-up at Bellerive at 3:29 pm (Irish) in the company of J.B. Holmes and Dylan Frittelli.
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