GOLF:Having lost his tour card, Gary Murphy tells PAUL GALLAGHERhow he hopes to resurrect his career in Asia
GARY MURPHY lost his ticket to play with the big boys on the European Tour and finds himself in no-man’s land with a restricted playing status. But rather than rest on his laurels the burly Kilkenny man has looked East and hopes to resurrect his playing career on the OneAsia Tour.
It’s a far cry from the European top table and it’s a long commute each time from his home in Termonfeckin, Co Louth but needs must and Murphy is nothing if not resilient.
The life of a tour player can be a lonely one at the best of times and that’s not going to change anytime soon for the 38-year-old, who is the sole Irish representative on the OneAsia Tour – that little waving tricolour beside his name on the leaderboards will stick out.
After a winter of hard graft and equipped with a new-found confidence – while still in possession of a large dollop of self-effacing dry wit – Murphy is trying to get back on the horse, any horse, and do what he does best; hitting a golf ball around manicured turf in the least amount of shots possible.
To understand Murphy’s predicament, a rewind over the previous 12 months is needed – and it doesn’t make for great reading. In 2010 he played in 27 European Tour events, missed 20 cuts, retired once and picked up a paltry €19,152 to finish 227th on the money list. His biggest cheque was €5,800 for tied 43rd in the South Africa Open. Throughout it all his swing unravelled and the spiral began, all the way to losing his tour card then missing out at Tour School.
“Last year I totally lost confidence in my game. It was like lighting a big bonfire and I couldn’t stop it burning,” reflects Murphy from his Louth home, little over a par five away from Baltray and Seapoint Golf Clubs where he does most of his practice. “In 2010 I made equipment changes, largely because of the new grooves, and never really got settled on a set, shopped around a lot. I tried to make some swing changes, perhaps because of the clubs, and quickly got into a rut. Looking back I shouldn’t have done it.”
Listening to Murphy juggle equipment changes was in stark contrast to Graeme McDowell when many questioned the US Open champion’s move to Srixon after so much success with Callaway. At the time G-Mac simply said: “I hope it’s about the archer and not the arrows.”
“I recall playing in Malaysia last year when I made the first changes and just played horses**t and didn’t have a ‘go-to shot’ which I’ve always had. Probably should have nipped it in the bud then,” adds Murphy, who eventually went to friend Derek Murray at ForeGolf for a fix around the Dunhill Links last October. The 2010 world clubmaker of the year based in Naas built Murphy a set of clubs which he is still using now but the damage for the 2010 season was already done by then.
Murphy suggests the game has become too scientific with a tendency to over-analyse. “I wouldn’t equate my situation as anywhere near the same level as Tiger Woods but even he is looking for something at the moment; and personally I don’t think it exists,” he says.
“I think this notion of players trying to peak for certain weeks for say a major is a total fallacy. Look, I’m not saying I found the game easy but I was always a pretty natural player, then I tried to make it too complicated. I should have stuck to my basic principles.
“In layman’s terms I lost my strike and that was never an issue before. In the end it was like going to a gunfight with a bow and arrow. You’re grafting to shoot 72, 73 when the required number is 68. Multiply that by four and it shows you how far off the pace you are.
“I can honestly say I tried my heart out; just waiting for something to click. Ideally I would have taken a couple of months off to try and sort it out but there wasn’t the time to do that, events were running out and I had to keep trying, keep playing.”
Murphy has spent the winter at home working on his game and is thankful for the good relationship with Baltray and Seapoint, who afford him use of their course and facilities to practice.
“I know if I shoot a good number from the back tips on either course then my game is still in reasonable shape,” adds Murphy, who had just dropped his daughter Hollie off to school before hitting the range.
“That’s a typical day, drop my daughter off for 9.30am then practice until 12.30pm and play nine holes in the afternoon or more practice.
“I also started running in January. It’s pretty stressful being off tour and not knowing where you’re going to play next. I try to run four times a week; stick on the iPod and that definitely helps.
“I wouldn’t say I’m getting ready for the London Olympics but I’m certainly fitter than I was, it de-stresses me too. The irony is I probably played my best when I was at my heaviest,” jokes Murphy, arguably not unlike a certain Colin Montgomerie.
“It’s been good spending more time with my family but they’re used to me being away and you start getting under their feet. Suddenly my wife is as keen as I am to get playing again, in the nicest sense.”
Never mind the competitive desire that still burns within, financial implications are another reason why Murphy needs to get back competing.
He has been ever-present on the main European Tour for over a decade; a steady operator alongside the likes of friends Peter Lawrie, Shane Lowry, Damien McGrane and Michael Hoey. As this particular quartet made their winning breakthroughs on the main tour, Murphy has knocked on the door several times but still searches for that maiden win (not to mention the not insignificant buffer of a two-year exemption).
“It’s frustrating, for once you go off tour after the best part of 10 years, all of a sudden you’re begging to get a start somewhere. There is no parachute as such when you come off the main tour. Basically I have to rely on invites to the Challenge Tour and that’s why I joined the OneAsia Tour,” says Murphy, who has almost €2.2 million in career earnings.
“I have to remain positive, no other way to be. To go from winning at least €300,000-400,000 a season to under €20,000 in 2010 was just bizarre. I wouldn’t say I’m financially secure. I’m only 38, I need to work, need to play. I’m not in a situation where I could retire or anything close to it. In any case I have more to offer.
“We haven’t been immune to the economic downturn and the property bubble. The reality is my income has only ever been on a golf course. Not competing means no income. Thankfully I still have a few sponsorship deals, TaylorMade have been fantastic as have Doonbeg and Kartel but compared to four or five years ago there’s nothing out there at the moment.”
Murphy is as “hungry as ever” and the desire to compete remains strong. “I’ve always felt lucky to do what I do, but it’s difficult when that’s taken away. The goal is to get back on the European Tour; it’s the only goal,” he says.
He’ll get a few starts on the Challenge Tour “but can’t be hanging about there for the next few years, that’s for the young fellas starting out”. That said, he competed in the Kenya Open at the start of April but rounds of 79, 77 weren’t what was needed.
With the uncertainty of not knowing where and when his season fully gets under way, Murphy took a punt at the OneAsia Tour. He finished tied 21st on seven under and safely secured one of the 40 cards at the tour’s qualifying school in January with rounds of 74, 72, 67, 68.
There are 13 events on the 2011 schedule through to December and Murphy is guaranteed around eight starts and rising if he puts in strong finishes along the way. He was hoping to play last week’s China Open but because it was co-sanctioned with the European Tour, his ranking off the OneAsia Tour didn’t give him exemption.
The OneAsia Tour emerged after “Korea and China wanted to get in with the Asian Tour but that didn’t happen so they set up their own tour and got into bed with the Australasian Tour,” explains Murphy.
“In my case it is somewhere to get out there and start playing again and if you play half decent the money good, $1 million tournaments. Yip, that’s right, I’m the best Irish player on the OneAsia Tour, the only one in fact!”
Closer to home he has played many games with fellow Termonfeckin resident Des Smyth, another who never had a regular coach, and is something of an inspiration to Murphy.
“Des has had his ups and downs and was criticised at times for doing things his own way, but he’s had a wonderful career. He’s a font of knowledge and has won in every decade, that in itself is a ridiculous record,” noted Murphy. “He once told me he went to a coach to ask what he thought and the response was ‘we’re going to have to strip it down (the swing)’. ‘Well I have a wife and three kids at home, so I don’t think we’ll be stripping anything down’ was Smyth’s direct response. That struck a chord with me. It’s easy to get caught up in the whole methodology of the thing, which happened to me,” he says.
“I’m humble enough not to take anything for granted and know it will be all the more enjoyable when I get back out there, I’ll certainly appreciate it,” he concludes before heading off for another session on the range.
Murphy, he’s due a break.
GARY MURPHY THE STATISTICS
Date of birth: October 15th, 1972
Age: 38
Born: Kilkenny
Family: Wife, Elaine, daughter, Hollie
Turned Pro: 1995 (plus 2)
Q-School: 1995, 96, 97, 98, 99, 2000, 01, 02, 09
Current World Ranking: 930
2010 At a glance
Events: 27
Missed Cuts: 20
Retired: 1
Earnings: €19,152
Biggest/smallest cheque: €5,800 (43rd South Africa Open)/€1,468 (81st Andalucian Open)
What's in the bag
Driver: TaylorMade Burner
Three-wood: TaylorMade Burner
Rescue: TaylorMade Two (19 degrees) and Three (21 degrees)
Irons: four to pitching wedge, TaylorMade blades (KBS shafts) Wedges: 51 degree gap wedge, 58 degree lob wedge
Putter: TaylorMade Rossa (all 14 clubs TaylorMade)
Ball: TaylorMade Penta
Shoes: Adidas
Clothing: Kartel
