Lucas Bjerregaard’s dark times show mental challenge of pro golf

After a strong start to the British Masters at the Belfry, Lucas Bjerregaard opened up on the dark times he has been through.

He felt that his good performance at the British Masters – he sat seventh with 18 holes to play – had been coming for a while given how he has played on the Challenge Tour.

The Dane was unusually candid in his interview at the Belfry.

“I don’t know, I think it’s been coming a little bit,” Bjerregaard said.

“I had three top 10s on the Challenge Tour before last week, so game’s obviously been trending a bit.

“Before that, there wasn’t much pointing in the direction of any good result.

“I think I was maybe on the verge of giving up the game a little bit, and I think that’s helped me to just go out there and play a little more carefree and not worry too much about it.”

He then revealed what it is like for a golfer when things do not go their way on the course week after week.

“I’m not sure what the reason is,” Bjerregaard said.

“I think it’s a bit of a snowball effect with many things. I think my technique hasn’t been good enough, and my confidence sure as anything hasn’t been anywhere near where it was back in my prime.

“It’s been tough, no doubt. I felt very alone.

“I felt very much looking for answers and not finding anything and it felt the more I tried, the less success I had.

Injury played part in struggles

“Start of the year, I hurt my back vacuuming at home and I had two, two and a half months where I couldn’t play, and it was a pretty dark time where I thought about maybe doing something else than playing golf, so again, maybe I had to get there before I could start playing better again.”

Bjerregaard said that his wife Henriette and his children Josephine and Noah kept him going through the hardest of times.

“Probably my wife and kids,” Bjerregaard said when asked about his experiences.

“Most of the things I do is for them.

“They’ve supported me, and I think it would be wrong to give up. My wife has stood behind me through all of this, and it’s been tough as a family to go through it, but she believes in me and I’ve got a good group of people at home believing in me and helping me out as much as they can, and I think I owe it to give it my all.”

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