Recent Lockdown Diaries guest Dylan Frittelli reveals how much enjoyment he has living and playing in the USA and why joining the Tour made him reassess his world ranking, writes WADE PRETORIUS.
Frittelli on leaving TPC Sawgrass: It was kind of scary
‘It’s been a dream and a goal for me ever since I graduated from college and turned professional … the goal was to get to the PGA TOUR. In my mind, it’s the best tour in the world, it’s the most lucrative tour, it’s got the best players. I want to test myself against them and I finally got back here to the States nearly two years ago,’ he told Compleat Golfer.
‘It’s been awesome seeing some old friends that I played college golf with, and just being able to base myself in Austin, which has pretty much been home for me half of the year, having split time between South Africa and here.
‘I love my life here in Austin. I’ve got a good group of friends, and family, and there were lots and lots of hard times that I’ve been through when it’s been like that never seemed like a possibility. But now that it’s here, and I’m playing the PGA TOUR, travelling maybe only two-hour flights instead of 10-hour flights on the European Tour, definitely makes it worth all the effort that I’ve put in over the last four or five years to get here.’
Frittelli’s 2020 privileges, which will run into 2021 because of the enforced Covid-19 break, are secure after his big win at the 2019 John Deere Classic – which also booked him a return ticket to The Masters. The win also silenced his fears about his status in the game after initial struggles in attempting to replicate his European form on the biggest stage.
‘Yeah, it’s interesting, because obviously having worked my way up the European Tour, having come from the Challenge Tour – I spent two, three, four years there, and played the Sunshine Tour as well and got on the European Tour, and all of a sudden I played well in Europe, won a couple of times, find myself in the top 50 in the world, top 70, top 60, and you think, “Oh, cool!”‘ he says.
‘That’s my exact number, like, I’m No 60 in the world. And you get to the PGA TOUR and you think, “Oh, hang on, it’s not that simple. The world rankings are a tricky little thing and they may not be exact. I definitely felt a bit of uneasiness.
‘Obviously, the guys that have played the PGA TOUR have done for a number of years and they know the conditions, and so for me, it was adjusting to the US conditions again. And I kind of had maybe a little lack of confidence last year, through my first season, not achieving the results that I should – according to my world ranking – due to the strength of fields. I saw my ranking suffer a little bit, but to get over the line and win was definitely a crucial part.
‘I knew I had the confidence within me to do it, it’s just a matter of getting over those little voices that say, “Oh, maybe you’re not actually No 60 or 65 in the world and you’re actually 120, and the rankings are wrong.”
‘So that was a little mental hurdle that I had to get over.
‘I’d done well in the playoff event to get my PGA TOUR card. They had the Web.com finals, and four events in, I walked in there and said, “Look, whatever, I’m a top-100 player in the world, there’s only a couple of us in the top 100 playing this thing, so I’m going to just walk in here.” And that confidence got me through to get my tour card, but I didn’t really carry that over into the season. I was maybe a little bit hard on myself, thinking that all these guys on tour are so good, and better than me and they’ve played here for five straight years, they know these courses and I’m on the back foot.
‘But luckily, in the end, I persevered and got through that, and now it’s a totally different ball game, having a card for a few years in the future and being called a winner.’
