Pressure of a pro tour is breeding ground for mental-health issues
Golfers are living “on the edge” as they try to cope with the unique pressures associated with their sport.
The issue of mental health and sport is one that has come right into the open this summer.
Tennis star Naomi Osaka, American gymnast Simone Biles and England cricketer Ben Stokes have all cited mental pressures for stepping away from their sport for a period of time.
But as self-employed professionals, that is not so easy to doasagolfer.
Dr John Fry, the Research Lead for Sport at University Centre Myerscough in Lancashire, has been studying the effects of mental health in golf for more than 10 years.
While seeming to have a great lifestyle of earning lots of money, travelling the world and playing a game they love, underneath the surface, many players can be facing great difficulties.
One of the keys to being a successful golfer is learning to cope with the lifestyle that comes with it.
“Golfers are even more on the edge than many other sports,” Dr Fry told The Sunday Post.
“That’s due to the nature of the sport – individual, out on the road a lot, the relentless travelling schedule, being paid by performance. That makes things more difficult.
“All the characteristics associated with professional golf are the ones associated with mental ill-health.
“Loneliness, isolation, lowdecision latitude, poor work-life balance, the differences between how much effort you put in for the reward you get out, it’s all there.
“These players are supposed to be living out their dream, so they’re not allowed to moan. They can earn millions of pounds, but it doesn’t mean you are immune.”
Dr Fry has published five papers on the subject and built up a close relationship with 20 European Tour players while conducting his research.
They ranged from a former world No. 1 and Ryder Cup players to ones lower down the spectrum.
Dr Fry heard tales of financial ruin, marital breakdown and drug and alcohol issues, all brought about by the mental stresses of being a touring professional.
And that was before the strict protocols of living in a tournament bubble – which greatly limit social interaction – were introduced because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We focus on the top 50 in the world, and a few outside that, but they are the anomaly,” he said.
“Outside that, you have players who don’t earn the money, are affected a lot more by the pressures and have no choice where to go.
“They may be on the cusp of getting their card or have been on Tour for a couple of years but are not financially secure yet. They may have a young family back at home to support, and these are the guys we talk about being high risk.
“The support systems have not been there. They can’t talk to other golfers on Tour.
“They are competing against each other and don’t want to show weakness. And they don’t want to come across as moaners.
“So it’s more a case of engage in banter, put on a brave face, and push the real emotions below the surface, which exaggerates the pressures.
“A lot of golfers I spoke to even found it difficult to even talk to their partners.
“One golfer said to me: ‘It wouldn’t be so bad if I was working in a coal mine in Austria, because then my missus would feel sorry for me!buti’mplayinggolf!’
“Yet he was away from his family, not earning that much money and stuck on the course or the hotel, and the pressure was building year-on-year.”
Earlier this year, American Matthew Wolff, the 2020 US Open runner-up, took a two-month break from the game between The Masters and the US Open, citing mental health as the reason why.
It was a candid admission from the 22-year-old in a sport where the people you spend most time with are your competitors.
But it was also a sign that things are changing.
Dr Fry’s last paper, published in 2017, was shown to European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley by the Tour’s chief medical officer Dr Andrew Murray.
And it prompted the Tour to get serious in trying to tackle this latent problem.
“In years gone by, if a player had a problem with his hip or his shoulder, there was a pathway,” he explained.
“But there was nothing if a player rang up and said he was struggling with his mental health.
“Now there is. There’s a 24-hoursa-day support hotline where a player can speak to a trained counsellor.
“There are other support systems now to help alleviate some of the stresses involved in travelling on Tour and mental health awareness has been added to a questionnaire that the players fill in every year.
“But it takes a particular type of person to succeed in the pressure cooker of professional golf.
“Yet it’s a workplace where players are exposed to issues that can lead to mental health problems.
“Unfortunately, that will never go away.”