McBRIDE’S THRIVING IN THE KING’S SHADOW
21-year-old Paul is following in the footsteps of giants as he tees it up for Wake Forest University
FOLLOWING in the footsteps of a legend like Arnold Palmer is a huge burden for any golfer but Paul McBride feels like he is riding on the shoulders of giants at Wake Forest University.
The 21-year-old from Malahide, Dublin, has been singled out for big things since he won the Ulster Boys title by an impressive ten shots in 2013, joining Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy on the list of champions.
But having reached the semifinals of the British Amateur Championship last year before going on to help Ireland secure a historic bronze medal in the Eisenhower Trophy, he’s hoping to live out the American dream at the famous US university this year and clinch a Walker Cup call-up in September.
Individual glory has not come easily to the man from The Island. But after notching the fourth topthree finish of his collegiate career in Florida last week, he firmly believes that this could be the year it all comes together.
“I’ve had a second and three thirds, so hopefully I am due,” he said from the $5m golf facility on the Wake Forest campus in Winston-Salem this week.
“Hopefully that win is just around the corner. It is just a matter of it all clicking.”
McBride looked to be destined to achieve great things with a cumán and a sliotar in hand as a hurler.
A winner of the 2012 Dublin Under 18 Hurling Championship, he might be playing for his father, David, who coached St Sylvester’s last season.
Instead he’s in the third year of a golf scholarship at Wake Forest, which not only produced Palmer but also a string of All-American and PGA Tour players such as Lanny Wadkins, Curtis Strange, Jay Haas, Bill Haas, Webb Simpson, Scott Hoch, Jay Sigel, Billy Andrade, Len Mattiace and Kyle Reifers.
“I still miss my hurling and brought over a couple of hurleys to have the puck about with a few of the lads here,” he said with a chuckle. “I go to the games when I am home and wish I could play, but then I look at my hands and I know I could never risk it.”
Hurling’s loss is Irish golf ’s gain and McBride is keeping his fingers crossed that when the European Palmer Cup team to face the Americans is named today, he gets the nod for at Atlanta Athletic Club from June 9-11.
Selection would be another step on the road to a Walker Cup place at Los Angeles Country Club in September and having improved his game considerably since he joined Wake Forest, he would encourage Irish players to follow in his footsteps.
“I’ve spoken to Paul Dunne about it and he doesn’t understand why more Irish players don’t come over,” he said. “It gives you so many opportunities to meet people and play great courses.
“We have our own practice facility on campus with heated indoor
bays, a $5m building, locker rooms, a heritage room, conference rooms — all for the golf team. It’s beyond belief.
“If you look at the Irish players who have made it on tour, most of them played in the US.
“Graeme McDowell and Paul Dunne went to UAB, Michael Hoey went to Clemson, Darren Clarke came here for a short while, and Seamus Power was at East Tennessee State.
“I spoke to Gary Murphy a good bit about coming over here — he went to Augusta State — and he said it’s a great idea if you want to develop your game.”
McBride hasn’t lost any of his links skills, as he showed when reaching the last four of the British Amateur at Royal Porthcawl last year.
But he insists that not only has his long game, and his putting improved beyond recognition, he’s got a different mindset now.
“There is so much depth compared to at home,” he said. “One slip-up and they just overtake you here. It is so hard to win.
“Back home if you are two or three under par, you are thinking, ‘God, I’m playing well. Let’s hold on for dear life.’
“If you are two or three under here you think, I need to get to six or seven under because one of the lads is going to catch me. It’s the conditions but also the change of mindset.
“When I first came over, I really struggled to shoot low scores. I could shot one or two under regularly but couldn’t shoot four or five under consistently.
“Now I can. And you just have to do it or they are going to catch you. You have to keep going, keep going.”