The Open: Joe Dean's golf helping him leave delivery driver narrative behind

Fortunately his play is steering people away from referring to him as the Morrison’s delivery driver turned pro golfer.

“It’s meant I’m looked at a little differently,” begins Dean, who even after qualifying to play on the DP World Tour last November, kept a few shifts up behind the wheel before finally teeing it up in Qatar in February.

“Don’t get me wrong, I get that it’s a nice story, but I was a pro for many years before that, so it’s not like I’ve just decided to pick the golf clubs up and give it a go.

“It’s slowly sort of becoming a fact that I’m here for what I’ve done through my golf, not just a random lucky break.”

The play has helped. Despite being 29 when he finally made it onto the top tour after years on the satellite circuits, and after waiting three months to get his first start, he shot to prominence with a stunning second-place finish at the Magical Kenya Open in only his second start back in February.

Suddenly the delivery driver who won £170,000 was being interviewed by national radio stations.

Not a natural extrovert, the Sheffield professional managed to take the 15 minutes of fame in his stride, before quickly moving on.

If that second place in Kenya was a breakthrough moment, backing it up was far more significant.

That the College Pines professional did so with a second runner-up finish at last month’s KLM Open, which netted him another cheque for £170,000, was pivotal in creating his sense of belonging.

“That was the main thing, as nice as it was to do what I did in Kenya I was hoping it wasn’t going to be one good result and then a load of missed cuts,” said Dean, whose performance in Amsterdam is the reason why he tees off late on Thursday afternoon alongside the best players in the world in the Open at Royal Troon.

“It’s nice that I’ve proven to myself it wasn’t just a one-off.

“I’m getting more comfortable as the weeks go by and you start seeing more faces and more people say hello to you. The travel side of it I still hate, but I’m getting more comfortable.”

The reason he is becoming more comfortable is because he has confronted his demons.

When interviewed by this correspondent in November, immediately after negotiating six stages of Qualifying School in Spain to secure a place on the DP World Tour, Dean was not the typically excitable golfer about to realise his dreams.

He was conflicted, torn between being proud and nervous.

It all stemmed from his fear of travelling, which with the help of a prize he won for winning the one-day 2020protour order of merit last year, he was able to address.

“It was nothing to do with anything on the course, it was all about getting me to the point where I could get to the course,” says Dean of why he sought hypnotherapy to cure his problem.

“There was a bit of trauma I had just before turning pro with a family pet that we had to put down, the same day I travelled to Portugal.

“I never got diagnosed for it, but it triggered a bit of separation anxiety and I really struggled to go anywhere.

“After that I never really had to go out of the country so it got put on the backburner and I just thought will I ever need to worry about this again?

“That’s why qualifying brought such mixed emotions. It was a fantastic achievement and what I’ve always wanted to do but it was like: ‘oh sh*t, I’m going to have to figure this out’.

“Winning the 2020protour order of merit got me 12 sessions with a hypnotherapist Darren Hirst, so it almost fell into place.

“Eight to 10 sessions in with Darren and he said you’ll be fine. Before we knew it I’m on a flight to Qatar.

“Don’t get me wrong, I don’t enjoy going away or flying, but it’s manageable now.

“We’ve got to a point where we’ve put things in place that I can use myself and I’m in a place where I can go and compete.”

Fortunately Troon is reachable by car.

Dean arrives for his second appearance at an Open - he qualified for Birkdale in 2017 - 37th on the DP World Tour order of merit and content to have already achieved his primary goal for the season of securing playing rights for the next campaign.

Conquering a fear and shifting the narrative have also helped.

Asked what his aims are for this week at Troon he laughs: “Short-term it’s to avoid as many bunkers as possible.

"But in all seriousness I’d just love to make the cut.

“It’s the top 120 players in the world, it’s a little different to a regular DP World Tour event. It’s never going to be easy, the course is set up really hard.

“But not many get to play in an Open, so for me to play in it for a second time I’m over the moon.”