Denis O'Sullivan plans to take the European Seniors Tour by storm this year - thanks to a mental lesson from Padraig Harrington.

The big Cork man hopes his brainwave can help him add to the five tournament wins he has notched up in the past three seasons.

O'Sullivan kicks off his European Seniors Tour season in the Caribbean next week and he hopes some psychological tips from Harrington can give him the edge.

World number ten Harrington has made huge strides in recent years thanks to the huge emphasis he places on mental preparation.

O'Sullivan said: "I met Padraig in Barbados over the winter and he talked about the fact that when he stands up on a tee in a tournament he's just swinging a club and not thinking about anything at all.

"He hasn't a thought in his mind, which is the best way to be. If you have ever heard of guys talking about the zone, they say it felt as though somebody else was playing the shots - not them."

O'Sullivan, 55, has had his fair share of success since he turned pro in 1998.

Five wins have helped him to bank over half a million euro in official earnings but he believes that he can get even better with a stronger psychological approach.

"If you get in your own way all day it's not going to happen," he said. "Trying too hard is no good and really we should try to get in the zone. When you are in the zone you are just working out of your subconscious mind - that's where you should really be."

The European Seniors Tour begins with three tournaments in the sunny Caribbean starting with the Digicel Jamaica Classic at Montego Bay before going on to Barbados and Tobago.

And O'Sullivan can't wait to get out there and escape the Irish weather that has hampered his winter preparations.

But when he gets there he's determined to follow Harrington's lead and immerse himself in "the zone" this term after a major mental error in last season's Seniors Match Play.

"Padraig's trying to get in the zone all the time. I was speaking about it with him recently and he talked about training your muscle memory to react in a certain way.

"You've just got to believe in it. Sure, everybody has nerves but you've got to deal with them and it depends on how you do that. But there are techniques you can use to train your brain to work in a certain way."

O'Sullivan knows the importance of golf's mental side better than most.

Battling with Ulster's Eddie Polland in the semi-finals of the Daily Telegraphs/Sodexho Seniors Match Play last year he lost on the 18th after three putting from just nine feet.

"I beat myself really. I had a nine footer to win and I three-putted it.
I went out probably thinking I should win easily.

"I was five under for three of my previous matches and had beaten three of the best golfers in the field. Eddie was up for it and he beat me more because of my own stupidity than his own good play."

O'Sullivan's mistake looked likely to leave him with his first winless season since 1999, but he bounced back to win in Tunisia the following week.

"It shows how mentally strong I can be. I got a wake up call and I'm determined not to make the same mistakes again this year

"The old maxim is to have just one thought in your mind but I'm not so sure any more. I think you should just get out and play and let it happen."

Having failed to win his US Seniors Tour card a couple of seasons ago, O'Sullivan would love to join des Smyth and Eamonn Darcy on the Champions Tour in the US.

"I would have gone to the Champions Tour School last year but we had a new tournament in Singapore that was cancelled with a month to go and I couldn't get into the tour school at that stage.

"I tried for my card a couple of years ago and I'd love to try again.
But I'm doing something that I never dreamed I could do in my wildest dreams.

"It gets more enjoyable all the time. There are good guys coming in every year and you have to get fitter and get better."

New kids on the block such as Smyth and Darcy are likely to play no more than one or two European Seniors Tour events.

And while former Ryder Cup captains Sam Torrance and Mark James are set to join the senior ranks later this year but O'Sullivan is not unduly worried.

"We've had good guys coming in and they expected to clean up and they haven't. World-class players like Des and Eamonn and the Torrances of the world will look to America but you still have to compete."

O'Sullivan is taking nothing for granted. The first mental test comes on Friday.

(Jnr)

Christy O'Connor Junior this week prepared for yet another season this week and roared - I'm not retiring yet.

O'Connor, 54, has been fine-tuning his game at Mount Wolsley in Carlow as he bids to become a winner again.

But the Galway legend admitted that he's not about to hang up his clubs as he enters his 33rd season as a pro.

"When I turned Senior I promised myself three years and here I am five years later. It's a merry-go-round and it's hard to get off," he said.

O'Connor started the season in the Royal Caribbean Classic in Miami last month and finished seventeenth.

And although he will play just a handful of events Stateside, he feels he is back to his best after his leg break two years ago.

"I'm back at 100 percent and really ready to pound that ball," he declared. "Last year I couldn't transfer my weight to the left side and I came back early from the States.

"But I feel very competitive again and if I thought I hadn't a chance of winning a tournament I wouldn't play. Hopefully I'll be perfect for Adare Manor and the AIB Irish Seniors Open in May."

Despite not being 100 percent last year O'Connor finished fifth in the European Order of Merit with euro 152,000 in earnings from just eight events.

"I'll play six events in the States and seven or eight in Europe this year," he said. "It's great to be able to play with fear of putting weight on the ankle."

(Portmarnock)
Portmarnock will be a monster test for the Nissan Irish Open in July.

The classic links will be almost 300 yards longer than it was when Jose Maria Olazabal won the title there in 1990.

The first hole has been redesigned and new tiger tees have been built at the tough fifth and eighth holes.

The fifth is 45 yards longer at 442 yards while the eighth has been stretched by 30 yards to just over 400.

If that wasn't enough a Portmarnock spokesman promised that the usually penal rough will be "pretty high come July."

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© Brian Keogh 2003

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