TRY AS YOU might, it’s difficult to avoid making comparisons between the burgeoning careers of two of Ireland’s fledging golfers.
There is a curious symmetry to the paths Stephanie Meadow and Paul Dunne have taken to this point and now Ireland’s only female professional is hoping to follow in her fellow University of Alabama graduate’s footsteps at the Open.
At just 23-years-old, Meadow has already made a remarkable impression on the Ladies PGA Tour and believes she’s fully equipped to challenge at the Ricoh Women’s Open at Turnberry this week.
“Preparations have gone really well and I’m feeling confident after struggling for form recently,” she told The42. “The weather has been good so far but it’s meant to rain over the weekend so that will be of an advantage to me.
“Having grown up in Portrush, I know what shots to play and how to adapt to the rain and wind. You just never know what the weather is going to throw at you and you’ve to deal with it but I think my game is better equipped to it than most.”
Just like 22-year-old Dunne, Meadow enjoyed a productive amateur career in America as she combined golf with academic studies. In her first professional event last year, she produced a stunning display to finish third at the US Open.
The Royal Portrush golfer had only turned professional a couple of days earlier and now, twelve months later, Meadow feels she’s in the best possible shape to push for a first career win.
“You have to look at it like any other tournament but you can’t hide away from the fact it’s a major,” she continued. “You just have to approach it as normal and stick to your game plan.
“You have to go into every tournament believing you can win, even though I haven’t been playing great. You can’t control what everyone else is doing so all I do is focus on my own game and play the best I can.
“With my experience of links golf, you’ve got to feel good heading into it.”
Meadow, who is currently ranked 134th in the world, tees-off at 13.49pm on Thursday afternoon and will play alongside Hannah Burke and Thailand’s Patcharajutar Kongkraphan.
After The42 spoke with Paul Dunne on the eve of his first round at St Andrews, lets hope the omens are good and history will repeat itself a couple of miles across the Scottish highlands over the next few days.
Keep an eye out for an extended interview with Stephanie Meadow on The42.ie this weekend.
– First published 20.45, 29 July
