Chastening day for Dunne as Open challenge finally unravels

A step too far, but bravely taken. As Oscar Wilde once put it, "experience is the name everyone gives to his mistakes."

The playwright didn't have golf in mind for sure; yet, as Paul Dunne listened to his name being introduced on the first tee in the final round, the last act performed by Ivor Robson who bid adieu in his role of championship starter, those dulcet tones were the signal to a journey over the famed Old Course that will, in time, stand to 22-year-old amateur.

On a grey old day in the Kingdom of Fife, where raingear was taken on and off, and umbrellas went up and down like yoyos, this was a lesson to be learnt and to be tucked away for future reference.

The disappointment felt afterwards was understandable. An ill-timed shout from a spectator at the height of his backswing as Dunne played his approach to the 18th entirely idiotic. One of those days.

Disappointed man

Afterwards, in the area outside the recorder’s hut, Dunne – who’d signed for a finishing 78 for 282, which left him in tied-30th – was approached by another disappointed man.

Jordan Spieth

, whose own dream of a third straight Major was undone, shook his hands and passed on words of encouragement. He’d won the respect of all the professionals.

From the start, a nervy tee shot that pulled left, the bumps and hollows on this famed links acted like speed bumps to Dunne. The free-rolling play of the first three rounds that had put the Greystones golfer on the cusp of history was instead replaced by one where he had to grind and battle for every favour.

A bogey-bogey start was not on Dunne’s wish list, but that was what he got: on the first, his approach from an awkward lie didn’t even reach the Swilcan Burn and a pitch and two putts later had him registering a five.

Disobedient child

On the second, Dunne hit a sleeve of balls, three in all, as his driver acted like a disobedient child. The drives were wild, but the first ball was found on the practice chipping area near the New Course and in play.

He salvaged a bogey from the potential carnage and showed grit and courage to get back on the right track. But it wasn’t meant to be. Not this time.

“I was nervous, yeah, but nothing anything different to the last three days. But the last three days I just kind of got off to a steady start and settled into the round. I had a couple of shots (in the final round) that I hadn’t seen in any practice or any range sessions I’ve had, it kind of just rattled me a little bit. I didn’t really know where they came from,” he admitted.

To his credit, Dunne battled gamely – he grabbed birdies on the third and fifth – and turned in 36. But, on the run home, it seemed as if his tee-shots were attracted to bunkers like metal to a magnet. In all, there were four bogeys and a double bogey on his card on the way home.

“It was just a day that my golf wasn’t there, so hopefully it’ll be there more in the future.”

Tumble away

He wasn’t the first and won’t be the last player to start a final round leading a Major and to fall away. Others, pros, have suffered such a fate,

Mike Weir

in the 1999 US PGA when falling to a final round 80 as

Tiger Woods

usurped him; and

Dustin Johnson

in the 2010 US Open, when a finishing 82 saw him tumble away. You live and you learn and you move on.

Dunne moves on to a Walker Cup squad session in Lytham today, his mind still set on making that team. Any call of moving to a life as a professional put in abeyance for the moment.

“I’ll just think about it for the next few days and make a decision, but right now nothing concrete,” said Dunne.

If he was in the business of looking for some advice, Pádraig Harrington offered some.

“He can be a pro all his life. The Walker Cup only comes around not very often. I think he should play golf in the Walker Cup and turn pro then,” said Harrington.

A divergent view was offered by Graeme McDowell, like Dunne an alumni of University of Alabama Birmingham.

“Walker Cup is one of the fondest memories of my career, but it means nothing as soon as you press the professional button,” said McDowell, adding:

“There is a readiness now that wasn’t there when I was turning pro. I hadn’t been to a pro tournament until I turned pro. These kids are all exposed now. They come out ready to win big tournaments. Rory and Jordan have raised the bar, that you don’t have to be a mature veteran in your 30s to be able to compete in top tournaments. You can do it now.”

If McDowell’s comments provided some food for thought, all Dunne wanted was some time for reflection. He has played a lot of golf of late. Collegiate golf in the States. The European amateurs in Sweden. And, of course, the Open. He led after three rounds, and walked away with a bronze medal – but not the silver medal as leading amateur – for his efforts.

“I’m just kind of still in disappointment, but yeah, what an experience,” said Dunne.