Dan Bradbury hoping to control the fine margins as he returns to The Open
If he is to get back to the sort of form that got him here in the first place he knows he needs to knuckle down, cancel out the sounds of seats retracting on the imposing blue grandstands, the howl of the wind off the Firth of Clyde and the general buzz of Open week.
“You forget how big of a set-up it is, the scale of it, it’s just amazing,” he beams.
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Hide AdHe reached this level last year, as a DP World Tour rookie with a win already under his belt, his immediate future secure and in a position to enjoy his major championship debut at the 151st Open at Royal Liverpool.


Twelve months on he returns with the pressure cranked up a little after a second season in which he has failed to replicate the results, a third-place finish in the season-opening Joburg Open - the tournament he won on a sponsor’s invite a year earlier to kickstart his career - getting him back to the Open but as good as it has got so far.
“I missed seven cuts by one shot, so I can’t sit here and say the game’s great,” laments the 24-year-old from Wakefield.
“It’s been better than the scores have suggested, I will say that.
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Hide Ad“But there’s been numerous events where I’ve played all right and got nothing out of it.”


He long since acknowledged that his blistering start in Johannesburg back in November 2022 was not going to be a portent of how things would come easily to him.
But in year two he is learning the harsh realities of being on the wrong side of fine margins.
“Last year I would have played similar to how I am this year and made the cut on the number and pushed on and come 20th and everyone thinks you’ve had a great week,” says Bradbury.
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Hide Ad“So it’s fine margins and things just haven’t gone my way this year.
“It does become a thing, it becomes a bit of a run. So it was nice to break it in China, I made the cut in Hamburg, made it in Italy and actually did all right there.”
He did better than all right at the Adriatic Golf Club, bursting to the top of the leaderboard with five birdies in his first 10 holes as one of the early starters on the Sunday.
But even then he couldn’t really gauge whether his game and competitive instincts were aligned.
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Hide Ad“I was at 10-under with three to play, a score that ended up getting in the play-off,” he explains. “But at that point there were lads with a lot more holes to play at 12, 13-under, and nobody would have thought 10-under would get into the play-off, so I was still pushing to try and win and it cost me.
“In hindsight I should have played more solid and tried to get in the clubhouse at 10-under, or maybe 11-under (he would eventually finish tied 10th on seven-under).
“I don’t think I can really judge my game off that situation. I haven’t been anywhere near a lead since Joburg.”
Bradbury is not panicking though. He still has time on his side. His exemption for the win in South Africa runs out this year but he is still 88th on the Race to Dubai rankings with a decent cushion to 113, the last of the positions where a player retains his card.
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Hide AdThere is half a season left with many ranking points up for grabs, all of which he sees as a positive.
Right now, his mindset is to concentrate on himself and his own game, which has meant extra sessions on his putting.
“I’ve been focusing more recently on what I can do and what I can control, because it’s very easy to get ahead of yourself,” says Bradbury, who tees off at 11.04 on Thursday.
“It sounds basic, but sometimes you need to go back to the basics, controlling what I can control and sticking to my processes.
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Hide Ad“I’ve not played great but we’ve got a lot of events coming up still, you might only need one to be a great week and all of a sudden you’ve had a great season. It’s those fine margins again.”
Which brings us to Troon, and trying not to get over-awed by the occasion.
“Everyone says to treat it like another event, don’t treat it like a major, but that’s very hard when it’s your first one,” he says of his first Open experience at Hoylake.
“I think I’m trying to do that this year more, trying to just treat it like it is another event.
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Hide Ad"Regardless of the result the world keeps spinning. Yes it’s a major, yes it’s massive, but it’s just another chance to go and play well.
“It’s another year of a great experience and another great opportunity.
“It’s really nice to play in front of so many people. On Monday for the practice day we were playing in front of what we’d normally get for a regular tour event.
“From my point of view I need to keep progressing with the work that I’m doing and see some more positive signs with that.”