John Murphy is enjoying a well earned break after a long season on tour.  The Kinsale golfer recently completed his third year as a tour professional, and had a punishing schedule of 27 tournaments which brought him to 21 different countries over three continents.  2023 was undoubtedly Murphy’s toughest year on tour, but the 25 year old battled until the end and will tee it up on the Challenge Tour in 2024.

Murphy made the season ending Challenge Tour final in 2022, but after a disappointing performance in the grand final he reversed his form and won at tour card for 2023 at the final stage of qualifying school a week later.  Murphy along with caddie Shane O’Connell immediately changed their plans to head to Australia, instead heading to South Africa for a series of four higher ranked DP World Tour events.  Unfortunately for Murphy he went on a run of four missed cuts before the Christmas break.

The first half of 2023 was equally tough for Murphy, he had a run of missed cuts before securing a top 30 finish at the Soudal Open in Belgium in May.  Another fallow period followed before two more paydays in August and September.  He was 39^th in the Czech Masters and also made the cut at the Omega European Masters.  Murphy pulled in just over €33,000 in prize money during the season, but thanks to sponsors and minimum payments from the European Tour, he will have covered all of his costs.

The margins at the top level are incredibly tight, with very little separating good golf from very good golf.  The statistics for rookies too are marginal.  This year 23 of the 27 Q School qualifiers failed to retain their card for a second season while 11 of the 20 Challenge Tour qualifiers lost out.  It seems to be a case of it being easier to get to the main tour than to stay there.

Tour golf also presents a big financial commitment, with a week on any professional tour costing €2,000-€5,000.  With local and international sponsors like Arachas, Finbarr Galvin, Martinsen Mayer and Peter Millar he will have the backing to head off in 2024 and chase a DP World Tour card.

It does need to be called out that Murphy only has two and a half seasons behind him and he’s still learning the trade of tour golf.  Given the journeys that some pro golfers have taken, many would think that a full Challenge Tour card going into a third full season is a good return.  While there have been a few breakthrough stars in Europe and US, for the majority it’s still a long road to gain tenure on the top European tour.

It should also be remembered that Murphy had a quick start to life as a pro.  Murphy rounded off four years of NCAA Division One golf with a Walker Cup appearance, and just four months later he was challenging for the lead at the prestigious Dunhill Links in St Andrews.  A top ten finished that saw him earn of bumper cheque of €81,000 and finish his first season with winnings of €125,000.  Murphy’s second year also brought much success.  A full Challenge Tour Card saw him tee it up in 23 events and qualify for the tour final in November.

Murphy pulled in €60,000 from the Challenge Tour and another €15,000 from other events to take his earnings for the two seasons to just over €200,000.  2022 was an important learning year for Murphy and he also got to compete on the PGA tour twice.  He got an invite to the AT&T Pro Am in Pebble Beach in February and also played in the Byron Nelson Classic thanks to winning the Srixon Byron Nelson Award while in college in Louisville.

Murphy is no stranger to grinding it out, anyone who follows him on social media will be familiar with his occasional “golf is hard” posts.  In 2019 he had a very poor summer in Ireland, and then went on to win the Mullingar Scratch Cup.  The previous year he was also having a tough run of results when he won the St Andrews Links Trophy in Scotland against a highly rated international field.  Murphy’s strength lies in his willingness to work hard and challenge himself, especially when the results on the course don’t go his way.  For every missed cut this year, Murphy could be seen grinding it out on the range on every Saturday and Sunday as he worked to fine tune his game for the next tournament.  With a tough season behind him, Murphy headed to Australia for a well deserved break, and he’ll be looking forward to February when the Challenge Tour heads to South Africa.  He demonstrated incredible resilience throughout the season and that should stand to him as he looks towards 2024.

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