Joel Dahmen uses ‘F it’ mentality to move up PLAYERS leaderboard

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Failure isn’t avoidable in professional golf. Joel Dahmen is learning to accept this, and it might produce an uptick in form.

After an opening-round 74 at THE PLAYERS Championship, Dahmen made a conscious effort to implement an “f--- it” mentality for the rest of the week at TPC Sawgrass’ PLAYERS Stadium Course.

The results were immediate. Dahmen bounced back with a second-round 67 to make the cut by two shots, followed by another 5-under 67 in Saturday’s third round to move inside the top 20 on the leaderboard.

From Dahmen’s vantage, the reason for this ascent came between the ears.

“I wish there was some great, elaborate response. I think I just played golf,” Dahmen said after completing the third round. “When you’re behind the 8-ball, you just have to stand up there and say, ‘F--- it,’ and you’ve just got to swing away.

“There are some tough tee shots out here; it’s a tough golf course. You can’t play scared out here, and I just went out and just played golf that I remember playing, and it’s been a lot more fun.”

Dahmen entered the week at No. 171 on the FedExCup, with three made cuts in six starts this season and no top-40 finishes. He has spoken in recent years of the mental challenges of keeping one’s TOUR card, and his early-season results indicated that he could be tracking toward the bubble at season’s end.

Perhaps this slight attitude adjustment will change that.

PGA TOUR's Casey Johnston and Taylor Ryan contributed to this report.