Paul Dunne
Paul Colum Dunne (born 26 November 1992) is an Irish professional golfer from Greystones in County Wicklow. He first came to prominence at the 2015 Open Championship where, playing as an amateur, he was tied for the lead after three rounds. In 2017 he had his first European Tour win, the British Masters.
Paul Dunne | |
---|---|
Personal information | |
Full name | Paul Colum Dunne |
Born | 26 November 1992 Dublin, Ireland |
Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) |
Weight | 160 lb (73 kg; 11 st) |
Nationality | |
Residence | Greystones, County Wicklow, Ireland |
Career | |
College | University of Alabama at Birmingham |
Turned professional | 2015 |
Current tour(s) | European Tour |
Professional wins | 2 |
Highest ranking | 65 (29 April 2018)[1] (as of 16 August 2020) |
Number of wins by tour | |
European Tour | 1 |
Other | 1 |
Best results in major championships | |
Masters Tournament | DNP |
PGA Championship | CUT: 2018 |
U.S. Open | CUT: 2017 |
The Open Championship | T30: 2015 |
Amateur career
Dunne attended Blackrock College, a secondary school for boys. He won the 2010 Irish Youths Amateur title; the following year, he finished third.[2]
Dunne played college golf at University of Alabama at Birmingham. As a junior, he was named the 2014 Conference USA Golfer of the Year. As a senior, Dunne finished fifth in the individual competition at the 2015 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship.[3] As a senior in college he was the Blazers' top golfer with a scoring average of 71.9.[4]
Dunne qualified for the 2014 Open Championship through final qualifying at Woburn. He scored 75 and 73 and missed the cut by two shots. He also played in the 2014 Palmer Cup.[5]
Dunne finished his amateur career after representing Great Britain and Ireland in their 16.5 to 9.5 victory over the United States at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in the Walker Cup.[6] He contributed 1.5 out of a possible 4 points over the two-day tournament.[7]
2015 Open Championship
Dunne qualified for the 2015 Open Championship by winning the Final Qualifier at Woburn; it was the second straight year he had won it.[8] Scoring 69 in each of the first two rounds at St Andrews, he made the cut and was the leading amateur at that stage.[9] In the third round, he scored 66 to become joint leader at 12-under-par. He was the first amateur since 1927 to lead the Open Championship after 54 holes, and he also set a tournament record for lowest 54-hole score by an amateur. On the final day he was in the last pairing with Louis Oosthuizen.[3] He shot a 78 in the final round to drop to a tie for 30th place.[10][11]
Professional career
Dunne turned professional later in 2015. His first event as a professional golfer was the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.[12] In November 2015, he gained a Category 17 European Tour membership by finishing 16th at the European Tour Qualifying School.[13] He then went on to finish in 106th position, in the 2016 Race to Dubai series and earn Category 11 European Tour membership for the European Tour in 2017.[14]
In April 2017, Dunne lost in a sudden-death playoff to Edoardo Molinari at the Trophée Hassan II. He missed an eight-foot par putt on the first extra hole to allow Molinari to win the event with a par.[15] In October he had his first European Tour win, taking the British Masters by three strokes from Rory McIlroy, after a final round 61. Dunne's victory was the 51st title won by a player from the Republic of Ireland on the European Tour.[16]
Personal life
Dunne was born in Dublin, Ireland, to Colum and Michelle Dunne. He has two older siblings, Alison and David.[2]
Dunne graduated with a degree in business finance from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.[9]
Amateur wins
- 2009 Irish Boys Close
- 2010 Irish Youths Amateur Close
- 2013 East of Ireland Open Championship, Georgetown Intercollegiate
- 2014 Samford Intercollegiate
Source:[17]
Professional wins (2)
European Tour wins (1)
No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner-up |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 Oct 2017 | British Masters | −20 (66-68-65-61=260) | 3 strokes |
European Tour playoff record (0–1)
No. | Year | Tournament | Opponents | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2017 | Trophée Hassan II | Lost to par on first extra hole |
Other wins (1)
No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runners-up |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 6 May 2017 | GolfSixes (with |
2–0 |
Results in major championships
Tournament | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Masters Tournament | |||||
U.S. Open | CUT | ||||
The Open Championship | CUT | T30 | CUT | T67 | |
PGA Championship | CUT |
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Results in World Golf Championships
Tournament | 2017 | 2018 |
---|---|---|
Championship | T55 | |
Match Play | ||
Invitational | T66 | |
Champions | T38 |
"T" = tied
Team appearances
Amateur
- Jacques Léglise Trophy (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 2009 (captain, winners)
- Palmer Cup (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 2014 (winners)
- St Andrews Trophy (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 2014 (winners)
- Eisenhower Trophy (representing Ireland): 2014
- Walker Cup (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 2015 (winners)
Professional
- EurAsia Cup (representing Europe): 2018 (winners)
- World Cup (representing Ireland): 2018
References
- "Week 17 2018 Ending 29 Apr 2018" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
- "Paul Dunne". UAB Sports. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
- "Who is Paul Dunne? Amateur golfer from Ireland played collegiately at UAB". AL.com. 19 July 2015. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
- Zak, Sean (19 July 2015). "5 Things to Know About Leading Amateur Paul Dunne". Golf Magazine.
- "Irish amateur Paul Dunne qualifies for British Open". The Irish Times. 1 July 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
- "The Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup Team is announced". R&A. 24 August 2015.
- "Walker Cup 2015 Scoring". USGA. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
- "10 things to know about Paul Dunne". PGA European Tour. 19 July 2015. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
- Slover, Ray (19 July 2015). "Paul Dunne, Irishman and UAB grad, stunning success at British Open". Sporting News. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
- Corrigan, James (20 July 2015). "The Open 2015: Zach Johnson holds nerve against Marc Leishman and Louis Oosthuizen to win first Claret Jug". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
- Lewis, Simon (21 July 2015). "Disappointing end for Paul Dunne as Open dream a bridge too far". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
- "Paul Dunne makes ace start to pro career at Dunhill Links". The Irish Times. 1 October 2015.
- "Paul Dunne – Results". PGA European Tour. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
- "Race to Dubai – 2016". PGA European Tour. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
- "Play-off defeat always the hardest to swallow but Paul Dunne takes huge step forward". The 42. 17 April 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
- "Paul Dunne edges closer to a very lucrative European Tour perk after spectacular British Masters win". Irish Independent. 1 October 2017. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
- "Paul Dunne". World Amateur Golf Ranking. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
External links
- Paul Dunne at the European Tour official site
- Paul Dunne at the Official World Golf Ranking official site