Paul Dunne shows gap to professional ranks is closing

Perhaps the Silver Medal, as awarded to the leading amateur at the Open Championship, should be presented with a health warning. Just ask Justin Rose; when he was tying in fourth place at Royal Birkdale in 1998, the golfing world was his oyster.

Rose duly turned professional and missed 21 straight cuts. The Englishman’s career has since blossomed – and some – following those troubled early days on tour, but his wounding experiences serve as a warning. Other Silver Medal winners – Lloyd Saltman, David Dixon, Stuart Wilson, Marius Thorp – have almost disappeared without trace. Tom Lewis, who led the Open after a 65 at Royal St George’s four years ago, is only now making professional inroads.

Clear danger

There are alternative narratives.

Tiger Woods

and

Rory McIlroy

both excelled as amateur players in the Open. Yet the danger is clear; too much, too soon, and the sudden drop into the spotlight can prove damaging. Not least, that is, to a player’s expectations.

While these pitfalls may exist, the concerted prominence of amateur golfers at the 144th Open Championship, as it belatedly concluded on Monday, was striking.

Jordan Niebrugge took home the medal after tying sixth at 11 under par. Were the Oklahoma State University student a professional golfer, he would have claimed a serious six-figure prize.

An English amateur, Ashley Chesters, closed at nine under. Ollie Schniederjans matched that aggregate score. Neither of the pair finished a round over par.

The 22-year-old Irishman Paul Dunne made history by sharing the 54-hole lead at St Andrews, the first time such an Open feat had been achieved by a non-professional since Bobby Jones in 1927. Dunne's closing 78 disappointed him but he was still the envy of the amateur golfing world for an overnight spell. Hopefully, he focuses on that.

Romain Langasque, the British amateur champion, would probably have snapped someone’s hand off if offered four rounds – of 69, 72, 71 and 74 – before the Open began. As it transpired, he was the poor relation of the five when still under par.

Amateur events

Surprise over this depth of amateur performance is legitimate even if, evidence would suggest, the gap to professional golf has never been smaller. The fact they can handle venues such as the Old Course at all less so. Many prominent amateur events are hosted on links courses, more so than in the professional game, with American players such as Niebrugge and Schniederjans making it their business to learn this aspect of the game. – (Guardian Service)