Relaxed Maybin taking it all in his stride

Stop the presses! Hold the phones! Here comes a newsflash: golf really isn’t the centre of the universe.

At least if you’re Gareth Maybin. Many of his contemporaries in the professional ranks may disagree with the Ulsterman as they live, breath and sleep golf in the pursuit of excellence, yet they will be looking slightly enviously in Maybin’s direction after he shot a five-under-par 65 in yesterday’s Irish Open second round to leave him four shots off the lead, particularly as the man himself can take it or leave it.

The 30-year-old from Ballyclare used to be like his fellow foot soldiers on the European Tour, immersed in swing thoughts, software and video analysis, his mind entrenched in the golfing lab. And it repaid him with three runner-up finishes on Tour in 2009 and 2010, the last of which came behind Graeme McDowell at the Valderrama Masters. Yet Maybin had an epiphany a year ago as weighed up his priorities following the birth of his first child, a son called Reeve, and the upshot is, well, golf may pay the bills but it is not the be-all and end-all of his existence.