CHARLOTTE , N.C. — Joel Dahmen doesn’t do stress. Not because he can’t handle it, but because he’s had enough of it to last a few lifetimes and he’s done with it.
“I’ve been through life and death,’’ Dahmen said Friday. “This is not it.’’
This is Dahmen being in contention to win his first PGA Tour event after shooting a 5-under 66 in Friday’s Wells Fargo Championship second round at Quail Hollow to stand at 10-under, one shot out of the lead held by Jason Dufner.
Stress?
Dahmen lost his mother to pancreatic cancer when he was a junior in high school. Then his brother was diagnosed with testicular cancer. And then, in 2011, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, having surgery to remove one testicle followed by chemotherapy.
Along the way, Dahmen got so depressed from the weight of his family health issues that he drank himself out of a golf scholarship at the University of Washington after only a year.
So, stress about winning a golf tournament?
“Sometimes I probably act like it [stressed] out there and have to remind myself [that] I’ve been through so much more,’’ said Dahmen, who’s in his third season on the PGA Tour. “I’m a kid from Clarkson, Washington, who’s on the PGA Tour. That just doesn’t happen. I’m leading a golf tournament, around the lead.
“I get to play with Tiger Woods, get to play with Rory [McIlroy], they give you free food inside [the locker room], you can hit pro Vs on the range. That just doesn’t happen where I grew up. Yeah, you dream of the stuff, but to actually be doing it and be appreciative of it, I think I’m probably more appreciative than other people and I continually remind myself of that.’’
Dahmen’s life experiences have shaped his attitude to what it is today, which is carefree and straightforward. He’s under no illusions about who he is and why he is where he is.
“If I didn’t have cancer, I’d be a washed-up driving range pro telling people how good I used to be,’’ Dahmen said. “I’d be a woulda-coulda-shoulda guy, telling people for 50 years how good I was.’’
That’s why Dahmen refuses to be seduced by his place in this golf tournament.
“There’s four steps — Thursday through Sunday,’’ he said. “Step one, I seem to have figured that out every now and then. [Friday] was step two, so figured out this one. The weekend’s a whole other animal. There’s so much golf left that. I could go out and lay an egg and no one hears from me again. Hopefully, there’s more to come.’’
Dahmen is refreshingly honest about his place in the game. When the topic of him becoming a top-10 player was broached, he didn’t dish out any company lines.
“Week in and week out or over the course of a career, they’re going to be way better than I am,’’ he said. “But golf is awesome because on any given week or given day, anybody can beat anybody. Those [top-10 players] expect week in and week out to be on the leaderboard and to be around. Am I that good? No, but when I’m playing my best I can compete with a lot of people. Is my best as good as Rory’s? Absolutely not. Is my best Top 10 in the world? No. But is it good enough to compete week in and week out? Absolutely.’’
Dahmen insisted he’s not obsessed with becoming a top-10 player or any other goals for that matter.
“Could I be [top 10]?’’ he said. “Probably. I don’t practice as much as a lot of the other guys out here. I’m really happy with where I’m at. I’m getting better every year, I’m getting better weekly. So if that gets me there, then great, but I don’t want to be No. 1 in the world. I don’t need to win a green jacket [or] gold jacket. I don’t need to win those things. I love this game, it gives me a great career, a great life. I don’t really care about trophies, to be honest. I love competing … but I love money, too.
“Golf is not life and death. I have faced life and death, and golf isn’t that. I really think if I hadn’t gone through the things that I did, that I would not be where I am today.”
And where Dahmen is right now is pretty content with his life. Regardless of what happens over the next 36 holes at Quail Hollow this weekend.
