The route to a full tour card is a rocky one. There is no easy way. But Conor Purcell – the 26-year-old Dubliner – is navigating his way through this season’s Challenge Tour, the pathway to a full DP World Tour card, with a sense of purpose.
Purcell, a product of Portmarnock Golf Club where his father Joey was the long-time club professional, is back in action at this week’s Challenge de España in Seville where he will seek to continue a rich vein of form that has seen him move to 17th in the latest Race to Mallorca standings, the season-long order of merit which will ultimately reward the leading 20 players with full tour cards.
To get an idea of just how high the standard is on the Challenge Tour, you need look no further than Purcell.
Each of his last eight rounds – in back-to-back tournaments in the Middle East – were sub-par: the lowest was a 62, in the second round of the Abu Dhabi Challenge; the highest a 71, in the second round of the UAE Challenge. The Malahide man finished fourth in Abu Dhabi, sixth in Dubai.
Indeed, as if to affirm the quality of players on the second tier circuit, and that it is not just confined to younger players embarking on their professional careers, he recently had Alex Levy, a five-time career winner on the European Tour, in his group, fighting for every shot just like Purcell.
“I would say the gap between the Challenge Tour and the European Tour isn’t as big as people would think, certainly up at the top of the leaderboards where the scoring is so hot. The week I got to 20-under [in Abu Dhabi], 24-under-par won.
“People might think it is a hen run but it is one of the longer courses we play. People are just playing a lot of really good golf, holing a lot of putts, and I think no matter where you go you are fairly blown away with the scores players are shooting.
“I have played golf with plenty of guys who have maybe fallen off the DP World Tour. Most recently I played with Alex [Levy] who has won out on the main tour and it is humbling to almost come back and they are finding it as hard as everyone else to try and get back on to the DP World,” said Purcell.
In contrast to times past when a dozen or more Irish players had full tour cards, there have been weeks this season when no Irish players were in tournament fields and others when Tom McKibben was the sole Irishman competing.
Purcell is one of a number looking to add to the competitive contingent next season. He is one of a large Irish group looking to use the Challenge Tour – Alex Maguire, former tour player Jonny Caldwell, Conor O’Rourke, Mark Power, Gary Hurley, Dermot McElroy, Ronan Mullarney and John Murphy are all in the field this week in Spain – as a stepping stone to the main circuit.
Certainly, Purcell would appear to be comfortable in his own skin as he goes about the task at hand with those back-to-back top-10s moving him up the standings.
“I think we as golfers can beat ourselves up quite a bit. It is important to almost be kind to yourself and realise bad shots are going to happen and bad stretches are going to happen. The less I can beat myself up and just be as optimistic and look on the bright side of life, as clichéd as it is, it seems to work well for me.
“I feel like every time I tee it up I am close enough to put myself into contention most weeks. I feel like my game is adapting to the different conditions and courses quite well. I feel quite comfortable out there now so [I’m] just ready to keep pushing forward and to get that first win.”
Purcell has had a good week off the course, benefitting as one of the recipients of the Golf Ireland professional golfers’ scheme – where 10 players shared grants totalling more than €325,000 – along with Mahony Fleet announcing him as a brand ambassador.
“I am very fortunate. Golf Ireland have been great to me since I turned pro and this year Mahony Fleet and Flogas have come on board and offered great help. It is very freeing for me that I can just go out there and play golf and not worry about the finance side of things.
“The Challenge Tour is quite difficult to earn money on so to be able to invest in myself, to take a caddie with me every week, and travel as I need to is very freeing and hopefully I can go out there and play the best golf I can,” said Purcell, who will continue that journey in Spain this week.
