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Joel Dahmen starts fast at The American Express, fueled by euphoric finish to 2024

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Written by Kevin Prise @PGATOURKevin

Opens with 64 in Coachella Valley after keeping his TOUR card with season-ending 64

Joel Dahmen appreciates the notoriety offered via Netflix’s “Full Swing” docuseries, but he admits that sometimes it can mess with his head.

“There are times where you just kind of want to crawl back into your hole,” Dahmen said, “and kind of go back to being a nobody.”

That mental struggle came to the forefront at The RSM Classic last fall, where Dahmen needed a final-round 65 at minimum to keep his PGA TOUR card and avoid dropping down to the Korn Ferry Tour for the first time since 2016. Far from being a nobody, the golf world followed his progress intently.

Dahmen summoned a virtuoso performance amidst the uncertainty, carding a 6-under 64 to keep his job. He celebrated with his wife Lona, fellow TOUR pro Mark Hubbard and others. He called his dad and received text messages from several high-level TOUR pros. It made the holidays better. “Certainly felt like a win,” Dahmen said. “I certainly celebrated it like a win. It was a really fun ride.


Joel Dahmen secures his 2025 PGA TOUR card at The RSM Classic
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      Joel Dahmen secures his 2025 PGA TOUR card at The RSM Classic


      “Then kind of New Year’s hit, it's like, ‘Okay, I’ve got to get back to business because I don't want to be in that position again.’ As well as I handled that, I do not want any part of that again.”

      Dahmen, 2025 edition, wants to contend for titles. Perhaps that could come as soon as this week. Dahmen opened The American Express in 8-under 64, carding six birdies and an eagle on a bogey-free Thursday at the Nicklaus Tournament Course, one of three courses used in the rotation at the TOUR’s longtime Coachella Valley event. (There will be a 54-hole cut to the top 65 players and ties; the final round will be contested at the Pete Dye Stadium Course.)

      After earning his card via the 2016 Korn Ferry Tour, Dahmen is embarking on his ninth PGA TOUR season. He admitted at The RSM Classic that in some ways it has gone on longer than expected, but he didn’t want the ride to end (like Lanto Griffin said after regaining his card via PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry, it’s like a great concert where you just want a few more songs). Dahmen, 37, was one poor Sunday away from an uncertain future – conditional TOUR status holds no guarantees, as he knows via good friends like Harry Higgs who lost full status and returned to the Korn Ferry Tour in 2024, ultimately earning his card back. Dahmen felt that uncertainty while picking up his young son Riggs from daycare that Saturday afternoon at The RSM Classic. That’s why his clutch final round meant so much, and why the energy still feeds him two months later.

      Dahmen missed the cut at last week’s Sony Open in Hawaii, but he maintained an upbeat demeanor into The American Express, which features a pro-am format that suits Dahmen’s affable demeanor. His slow start to the 2024 season, with just one top-25 finish before June, put him in chasing mode as he fought to keep his job. He doesn’t want to be chasing this fall; he would prefer for things to click earlier, preferably this week.

      Perhaps that final-round 64 in coastal Georgia will evolve into his superpower.

      “Took a while to kind of process that (RSM) weekend for me … but I definitely tapped into something that I've been trying to tap into for a while,” Dahmen said Thursday. “Working with a performance coach, and you're doing all of these things to get better golf, and sometimes it takes a long time for it to click. For it to click especially that Sunday for me was really special. Just trying to tap into that more often.

      “It's really hard to kind of go into that head space where you just have to get it done and you're super focused on what you're doing at hand. It's always been a struggle of mine to maybe stay on task for all 18 holes, and I'm trying to do that more because obviously when I do that, I'm pretty good at golf.”

      There are ample birdies to be had at The American Express – Nick Dunlap won last year at 29-under, with winning scores of 20-under or lower each year from 2008 onward. Dahmen will need to keep the foot on the gas – hit iron shots close, make putts and such. But if he finds himself in a nerve-inducing situation later this week, he knows exactly what he’ll draw from.

      Euphoria and heartbreak are close cousins, and Dahmen’s final day of the 2024 season was simply euphoric. That’s not lost on him, nor will it ever be.

      “Certainly I have a lot more self-confidence, I would say, just like in who I am as a golfer, and I can get it done when I need to,” Dahmen said Thursday. “I have to do all the little things correct to make sure I can implement that on a late Sunday. I mean, I can't be more nervous, and I can't be in a bigger situation for me than – that's the same thing as trying to win a golf tournament. I just need to do the little things well week-to-week, day-to-day to give myself a chance on Sunday.”

      Kevin Prise is an associate editor for the PGA TOUR. He is on a lifelong quest to break 80 on a course that exceeds 6,000 yards and to see the Buffalo Bills win a Super Bowl. Follow Kevin Prise on Twitter.

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