Joe Dean says he worked with a hypnotist to prepare himself for the mental demands of international travel ahead of his rookie season on the DP World Tour.
After securing his card on Golf’s Global Tour by progressing through all three stages of Qualifying School, the Englishman missed the first three months of the campaign due to a lack of funds.
Instead, Dean was spending time working as a delivery driver for UK supermarket Morrisons, a job he first started after Covid-19 caused widespread disruption to sporting calendars.
Now, six tournaments later and after equalling his best performance of the season at last week’s KLM Open in the Netherlands, he has made almost £420,000 and secured a spot at next month’s Open Championship at Royal Troon.
But, even with the financial difficulties Dean was facing, he was making efforts in the background to ensure he was as best prepared for the grind of swapping one-day and two-day events for the DP World Tour.
"Behind the scenes it is a lot more draining than people think," he said.
"Obviously, you live a very nice lifestyle but for me personally I am not the biggest fan of travelling so it has been very tough for me.
"Darren Hirst, a hypnotherapist, worked wonders with me after Qualifying School to get me to a state where I could travel. It’s been tough but obviously worth it."
Obviously, you live a very nice lifestyle but for me personally I am not the biggest fan of travelling so it has been very tough for me
Dean, who celebrated his 30th birthday on Monday, has made new fans with his performances so far this season and those will likely have grown after he revealed he doesn't head to the range before teeing it up on competition days.
Days on from narrowly missing out in his maiden DP World Tour title in the Netherlands, this week's Italian Open presented by Regione Emilia-Romagna marks only the second time he has played back-to-back events on the 2024 Race to Dubai.
"It was a great week last week," he reflected. "I’ve got a lot of momentum to take into this week.
Tour starts: 6
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) June 24, 2024
Top five finishes: 3
Runner-up results: 2
Next month @joedean_golf will tee it up at The Open.
"These weeks are more about conserving energy. Obviously just coming from playing the one-day events to four-day tournaments and practice rounds it is all new so conserving energy is the number one priority for me."
His KLM Open result moved him to 30th on the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex and importantly secured his berth into The 152nd Open, seven years on from playing at Royal Birkdale in 2017.
"I don’t think it has fully sunk in yet. I managed to qualify back in 2017 at Royal Birkdale and it didn’t sink in then until I was actually there," he said.
"It is fantastic and I can’t wait to get to Royal Troon."
