Paul Dunne has confessed that he found the final round of Qualifying School more stressful than his Open adventure earlier this year.
The Wicklow man was famously tied for the Open lead going into the final round before falling down the order at St Andrews in July.
Ahead of the last round of European Tour qualifying in Girona today, Dunne sat in 12th knowing that the top 25 plus ties would collect a card for next season.
After finishing tied for 13th spot, the 22-year-old told RTÉ 2fm’s Game on: “It’s different. You’ve to finish in the top 25 this week, you’re just trying to do as well as you can.
“But then going into today was a bit weird because I was in 12th.
“You don’t know whether to try to push on and go forward or play more conservative and just to try stay in the top 25 so it’s a different mindset.
“It was a difficult one for me to really know how to think about how I want to play.
“Mentally, it was more difficult to know what to take on and what not to. It played a lot of mind games with me.
“This one was probably more stressful and the other one [The Open] was more exciting.”
“This one was probably more stressful and the other one was more exciting"
Qualifying School consisted of 14 rounds, including six this week and the Greystones man admitted the schedule was taking its toll.
“[I’m] wrecked, to the honest,” he said before revealing he plans to play in South Africa and Australia in the next fortnight.
“The first five rounds weren’t too bad but today was quite stressful, start to finish, just trying to get through the line.
“It’s great, it’s been a long few months trying to get through so I’m glad it’s finally over.
“If you looked at it simply, all I had to do was finish in the top 20 three in tournaments in a row.
"When you break it down and put it in a simpler term it seems a lot more achievable.
“I knew if I played well for three weeks I’d get through without much hassle but the last few stages were a bit more stressful than I would have liked.
“I played well around the tougher courses, the tougher courses suited me more. I was delighted to finally get over the line.”
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