Walker Cup hero braces himself for new challenge in paid ranks

By Graham Otway

DEVON’S Jimmy Mullen is hoping to add another chapter to an incredible month of golf when he makes his professional debut tomorrow in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

The 21-year-old was one of the big successes of Great Britain & Ireland’s record-breaking Walker Cup win at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

Twice he was sent out in the opening foursomes match with Ashley Chesters and twice they posted vital wins that set the tone for the team’s domination of the two-day match against the USA.

Then, having signed forms to turn professional, he traveled to Collingtree Park in Northamptonshire to take part in the first stage of  this year’s European Tour qualifying school.

Shooting a first-round 75, Mullen admits he struggled because play was interrupted several times for a total of four hours by heaving rain. But he fought back over the last three days and a closing 69 was comfortably good enough to earn him one of the 23 spots that were up for grabs to progress to stage two in Spain in November.

There will be some weight of expectation on Mullen’s shoulders at the Home of Golf this week since, as a 19-year-old, he proved he could cope with pressure when he was only one of two amateurs to make the cut in The Open at Muirfield in 2013.

But having thought long and hard about the possibility of scooping rich pickings from his first pay cheque on Sunday, Mullen has chosen not to back himself for instant success in golf’s paid ranks.

Having turned pro and received an invitation to play in the Dunhill, he could have forked out £2,500 to become a fully paid-up member of the European Tour. That would mean that any money he earns this week would qualify for this year’s Race to Dubai Order of Merit. “But,” he said. “I analysed it and decided not to pay the £2,500 because to win enough at St Andrews to finish in the top 110 on this year’s money list and get my playing card for next year, I would have to finish in the top four on Sunday.

“That would have been a pretty big gamble. However, I have paid out £300 to become a member of the Challenge Tour, and hope to make progress when I make my debut the week after St Andrews at Carlow in Ireland.

“But playing in the Dunhill, a Challenge Tour event and second stage of Q School is a really exciting start to my professional career. And I hope to pick up my first pay cheque soon.”

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