Fresh from his season-changing victory in Turkey last week, Rhys Davies strolled in to the Royal Golf Club in Copenhagen for this week’s Made in Denmark Challenge with an air of golf’s most valuable commodity. Confidence.
After claiming his first title since the 2010 Trophée Hassan II, and his first top 20 finish since July last year, Davies took a hugely significant step on what has been a long and winding road of return to The European Tour.
The Welshman has always been one of golf’s true ‘thinkers’, a man fascinated by the psychological element to the game, so gathering the 29 year old’s thoughts on his return from almost three years in the golfing wilderness was always going to be a fascinating exercise which didn’t disappoint.
As you would expect, Davies is in a hugely positive frame of mind looking ahead to the Made in Denmark Challenge (how couldn’t he be?), but his analysis of his journey offered a great insight into the mind of a top level sportsman.
“It felt great – and was a long time coming, there is no question about that,” he smiled as he arrived in Copenhagen from his four-shot win in Belek.
“It has been a tough couple of years, there is no doubt about that, but having said that I never felt like my game was completely lost. I always knew I was capable of getting back and playing well at any time but I just didn’t know it was coming.
“It’s interesting to look at how your mind works and it is a very individual thing. You know, some people on the outside must have looked at my results and thought that I was lost but only I knew that I was close to coming back.
“Then, if you look at the other side of that, people have come up to me in the past couple of years and said how good I am hitting the ball and that the results are just round the corner and I have known in myself that I had been playing terrible and was nowhere near a good result.
“So it’s vital to have your own strength of mind and that you control your positive input and output. It’s about having the strength of your own convictions and then backing yourself to do that.
“The mental part of the game has always fascinated me – I probably look at that part of the game more than any other. I agree that you need strength of mind to play at the top level and I also agree that adversity can make you a better player but you don’t know what either of those things mean until you have gone through it or lived it. Everyone can say those things to you, but unless you have been through that experience you don’t know what to expect.
“I have learned loads over the past two years and even just looking back to last week I learned a lot about myself.”
The Challenge Tour’s 2015 season, having played just three events, is in its infancy but Davies, currently second in the Road to Oman Rankings, believes he is ready to prove himself worthy of a return to the game’s very highest level.
“When I got in contention last week it felt like I had been there loads before. Obviously I have been in contention before and have won tournaments but for my mind to kind of engage in that situation so quickly having not been in contention for a long time was very encouraging. In terms of feeling the pressure and understanding the situation I really enjoyed it and was surprised that with ten holes to play I was incredibly calm and got the job done.
“It was a pretty convincing win and I couldn’t believe how strong I was mentally – probably the strongest I have ever been on a golf course and that is very encouraging when you think about the fact I had zero form coming into the event and all I had been looking for was a good score to build on at the start of the week.
“I just have to try and press on and try and win again here in Denmark this week. I know golf and know the Challenge Tour so I know how important it is to keep going out here when you are playing well and get on a run of form. That’s the goal for this week – try and perform well again and see if I can be in contention again come Sunday.
“My goals for the year haven’t really changed in the sense that my aim is still to win a European Tour card through the Challenge Tour. That was aim at the start of the year and it’s still the aim today. I would say winning last week will help me focus on that target and obviously was a nice step to achieving but there is a long way to go before the season is over so I need to keep playing like that.”
