Amateur Dunne: a big attraction at The Open ‘zoo’

Young Irish amateur Paul Dunne is just hours away from the most important round of his life and highly promising golf career.

Dubliner Dunne (22) goes out in the fifth last group at 2.20pm with 2010 St Andrews victor Louis Oosthuizen and is looking to maintain his great form after a couple of 69s (-6).

It’s very much a trip into the unknown for the US college student who admits: “Yeah, it’ll be a new experience, but I’m not 100 per cent sure how I’ll handle it. Hopefully I’ll just take it like second nature, but you never know.”

It’s his final year as an amateur before joining the pro ranks and clearly Dunne is determined to bow out in style.

He added: “It would be brilliant to emerge the leading amateur and it would be nice to get the silver medal, my last year as an amateur. It would be something I would remember forever.

“But there’s a lot of golf to play yet and I’m not going to think about it too much though I will think of a number to put in my head and will go about the business of achieving that later on.”

Dunne is revelling in the drama, loving every second and every shot of it saying: “Obviously golf is probably the biggest part of my life right now. It’s something I do every day. You don’t go a day without thinking about it.

“But in terms of why amateurs are doing well this week, I’d say if you put an amateur tournament on around here, people will be shooting scores to be up there on the leaderboard. Maybe not up at the top, but certainly around the top 20.

“But it’s just hard when the atmosphere is like this. It’s kind of like a zoo out there. Yeah, amateurs are well capable of shooting the scores needed to do well, it’s just about controlling your emotions when you’re out there, not letting it get to you.”

Dunne won’t have it all his own way in the silver medal chase though with European Amateur champion Ashley Chesters in cracking 3rd round form, shooting a stunning front nine 31 (-6).

Surely, surely Dunne or one of the other talented young amateurs can’t go all the way and strike Open gold tomorrow evening. Can they?

*For the record, the last amateur winner was the legendary Bobby Jones in 1930.