PGA Tour: Joel Dahmen adopts new mental game, his Bushmills popularity grows

Dahmen’s mental approach helps him stay present on the PGA Tour as he gets more popular through his Bushmills’ Joel’s Juicy Lie.

Joel Dahmen is among the fan favorites on the PGA Tour. His laid-back personality and humble attitude make him one of the most relatable players.

In 21 events, he has one Top 10 and three Top 25 finishes. Dahmen made 13-of-21 cuts. His two best finishes came at the Players Championship and RBC Canadian Open, with a T11 and T10.

This year has been about growth for him and finding himself.

In an exclusive interview with Playing Through at the 3M Open for his Bushmills Irish Whiskey anniversary event, the 36-year-old spoke about changing his mindset and how he continues to work on himself.

Photo by Mike Mulholland/Getty Images

This year, Harry Higgs opened up about changing his perspective on golf. Dahmen and Higgs are good friends on and off the course, so it came as no surprise that at the RBC Canadian Open, Dahmen adopted Higgs’ approach to the mental side of the game.

“One thing I think he [Higgs] does a really good job of is accepting bad golf shots,” Dahmen said. “I have to be better at accepting golf shots right now when they’re not what I want them to be. I don’t have to be perfect when I’m not playing my best golf.”

Many fans and average players do not realize that elite golfers still hit plenty of average or imperfect shots.

“Our misses are way better than everyone else’s, and that’s why it looks fine,” Dahmen explained. “It’s like, ‘Oh, you hit it to 20 feet.’ Yeah, but I hit a little thin — I did a little of this or that. Almost all of our shots are not perfect, and it’s understanding that’s okay, but they’re not all going to be perfect.”

Accepting those things can be difficult for any Tour player.

Dahmen has a support system around him that helps take his mind off of the stress. His wife, Lona, and Geno Bonnalie, his best friend and caddie, are two of his biggest support systems.

Season 2 of “Full Swing” paints him in a dark place, among other things. Filming happened over a year ago, so while it aired in March, these scenes were not recent.

However, the episode showed the Scottsdale resident and Bonnalie getting vulnerable with each other. That led Dahmen to explain how he added another person to his team.

“I’m about ten months into it. I’ve gotten better at that side of things,” Dahmen noted.

In September, he started working with sports performance coach Chris Bertram in the Vancouver, British Columbia, area. He primarily works with the Canadian Snowboarding team and with individual athletes.

“If he can get guys to do triple flips off of snowboards, he can probably get a guy to hit a seven iron on the brain,” he said. “It’s some different ideas — how to get ready for the day, how to manage your emotions a little better, some breathing techniques. You learn a lot about yourself. You learn what makes you tick, and that’s been fun for me because I’ve never done that.”

Yes, he plays professionally on the PGA Tour, but spending time with those he loves is far more important than staying mad about a round that fell short of his expectations.

Articulate

Things like his Bushmills anniversary event and having his family there helped him quickly push golf aside and turn his focus elsewhere.

“I have my family here this week, which helps a lot. If they weren’t here, I’d probably go beat balls until I was done being grumpy,” Dahmen said. “It does help to do this Bushmills outing, too, because you’re immediately switching off from golf mode into a sponsorship role.

Last July, Bushmills announced him as their Whiskey Caddie and his signature drink, “Joel’s Juicy Lie.” After his first round at the 3M Open, he stepped behind the bar and served his cocktail to a long line of fans— on his dime, too.

“They’re the first licensed distillery ever with Irish whiskey, so it’s been a lot of fun for me,” he said. “Joel’s Juicy Lie has kind of taken off. It’s at almost every PGA Tour stop. The fan reaction and getting Bushmills out there in the golf world has been great.”

Dahmen took photos, laughed and interacted with fans. He did not act like the world ended because he shot over par. No, the former Washington Husky showed off his personality and made the fans feel special.

Heading into the final regular season tournament, the 36-year-old sits outside looking in for the FedEx Cup playoffs. He is No. 117 in the standings and is 317 points behind the No. 70 spot.

Missing the cut at the 3M Open did not help his case because he would need to win or finish in second to get remotely close to that number. However, a good finish in Greensboro, NC, will help improve his spot in the FedEx Cup Fall portion of the schedule and get a head start on his points for next season.

“I try to think about things in such a wider margin now,” Dahmen said. “This is my eighth year on Tour. That’s a pretty good run. I want to play for another seven, eight, 10 years out here. It’d be amazing.”

Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @golf_girl_sl.