Dou determined to get back in winning groove

Even with two career titles on the Korn Ferry Tour under his belt, China's Marty Dou Zecheng was given a stark reminder about the importance of that well-worn sporting cliche－Stay in the present and take things one shot at a time.

As the 24-year-old Chinese continues his pursuit of a return to the PGA Tour at this week's Veritex Bank Championship in Texas, he realizes that a near-miss at the recent Club Car Championship in Georgia has put him in a better frame of mind with the Korn Ferry Tour heading into the business end of its season.

Three weeks ago, Dou was fighting tooth and nail for the Club Car title, and was one shot off the lead with just two holes remaining.

He was 2-under for those holes over three rounds, but when he stood on the 17th tee again, he made a rookie mistake by letting his mind wander. He started thinking about how good it would feel to win for a third time on the Korn Ferry Tour, which would have virtually sealed his PGA Tour card and a place on China's team for this summer's Tokyo Olympics.

The mistake proved disastrous as Dou sent his tee shot into water on 17 to run up a costly double bogey. He eventually finished tied-seventh, three behind winner Adam Svensson, who beat Max McGreevy in a playoff.

"When I was so close to winning, I thought too much," Dou admitted. "I was so eager to win and get my PGA Tour card, and the Olympics qualification, and expected too much which distracted me and made me lose my rhythm.

"I used to be good at handling the pressure, but it has been quite some time since my last win (in 2019).Thus, the feeling I had to deal with pressure was now a strange one. On the 17th hole, I was so eager to get a birdie and I chose an aggressive strategy to try to land my ball closer to the flag, but the ball found water instead. If I had more patience, I would have put the ball safely in the middle of the green."

Dou is currently 35th on the Korn Ferry Tour points list, with the top 25 at the end of the regular season in August earning PGA Tour cards. Then, another 25 players will be awarded cards through the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, a series of three tournaments which will also feature PGA Tour players who finish outside the top 125 of the FedEx-Cup points list.

The young Chinese has not missed a cut in five starts in 2021, with the top 10 at the Club Car Championship being his best result. Dou knows though that he needs to start compiling more of those top finishes to get back on the PGA Tour.

"I played in one event in January and then I didn't play for three weeks. Coming back to tournament play, I haven't quite found my rhythm yet. I just played three consecutive weeks and I felt a little tired. It was hard to focus after making the cut," he said.

Based in Dallas, Dou also uses some strong advice from his swing coach Cameron McCormick, who also coaches Jordan Spieth and Daniel Berger, as motivation.

In 2019, he won the season-opening tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour but failed to maintain that early momentum.

"He (McCormick) watched the final three events that year and I didn't make the cut at the second one. He had a serious chat with me, asking why I had won the first event but didn't finish in the top 25," said Dou. "I said maybe my practice time was not enough and Cameron said if that was my reason, I'd better choose an easy life, and not play on the Korn Ferry Tour."

"He is harsh but it is a good reminder and it helps me to focus better. I am not the type of golfer who can practice eight hours a day but I do put in more effort when I practice."

Like many others, he watched Hideki Matsuyama's historic Masters triumph two weeks ago and hopes to one day tee up himself at Augusta National. Dou, however, is not in a hurry, and believes it is more important for him to find the consistency in his game to play at the highest level.

"I think the point is you have to keep your status at the top level, and not go up and down, like how I got my PGA Tour card once and then I lost it after one season," he said.

"Just being there is not enough as we need to make achievements. I don't want to be second rate on the PGA Tour as I want to win."