McGrane determined to push on to next level

Wednesday August 24th 2005

Irish Independent / Unison.ie

DAMIEN McGRANE'S decision to quit his job at Wexford Golf Club and concentrate his full attention to playing on the European Tour has paid off in spades.

Already this season, McGrane has banked a whopping €330,701, more than his total earnings in 2003 and 2004, when he was the only player on Tour holding down a position as a club professional.

Naturally, all his pals in Kells, Co Meath, are delighted. But McGrane goes to the BMW International in Munich this week determined "to push on to the next level" and try and register his first victory on Tour.

Damien went into the last round of both the Scandinavian Masters and the Diageo Championship within three shots of the lead and discovered that he relished the thrill of the chase on the final day - even if it has yet to work out in his favour.

"In the last few weeks, I've had a couple of great opportunities," he explains.

"I did very little wrong but I didn't make enough shots or one-putts to make the breakthrough.

"You really have to push for it when you get into that situation.

"The top 12 at any tournament are really going all out for it and to win you really have to do something extraordinary, like chip in on 18 or sink huge putts for eagle.

"The breaks have to go your way but every time you put yourself in the frame, the greater the chance that your day will come," Damien added.

"When it does and you've clicked on to that new level, then you will be treated like a winner and people will speak to you like a winner. On tour, we all believe we can win but there's only one way to go out and prove it."

McGrane knows he could not have come this far if he continued working as a club pro. "I've already won twice as much as last year yet I'm not doing very much different," he explained.

"I just have more time to relax at home with my family or go fishing.

"I have the time to unwind after one tournament and sharpen my focus for the next.

"In the golf club environment, you go home to the pressures of your job after each event, taking care of invoices, cheques and the accounts at the shop as well as your other duties.

"Let me put it this way, if I do badly in that job, it reflects on me and the club. Now that's pressure.

"If I play badly on Tour, it reflects on my scorecard."

Currently 52nd in the Order of Merit, McGrane believes the greatest strides he has made in his three years on the European Tour have been mental rather than technical.

"I believe I've learned more about myself than the game," he concluded.

Karl MacGinty