Gary Hurley’s mental approach paying off

“It’s nice to have a Challenge Tour card now, going into Q-School. It takes a little bit of the pressure (off) but I don’t know if it matters a whole lot,” Hurley told the Irish Examiner.

Gary Hurley: Secured Challenge Tour card. Picture: Getty

THERE is an element of playing with house money when Gary Hurley begins his bid for a DP World Tour card at Empordà Golf in Girona this morning at the second stage of Q-School.

The first reason is that the 29-year-old product of West Waterford Golf Club and former Walker Cup winner has already secured a European Challenge Tour card for next year courtesy of his top-four finish on the Alps Tour order of merit. The second reason is more significant because Hurley is finally reaping the rewards of a three-year, Covid-interrupted journey of enlightenment on the course that has not only turned his golf game around but the entire mental approach he now takes to dealing with pressure, failure and now success.