PAUL DUNNE might have fallen to 1,697th in the world but the Greystones star believes he can turn his career around.

Ranked 65th in the world four years ago, he lost his card and then saw his confidence fade after suffering a hand injury at the end of 2019.

He’s made just three cuts in the last 17 months and must ply his trade on the Challenge Tour for now.

But he’s convinced the player who beat left Rory McIlroy in his wake en route to victory in the British Masters five years ago is still inside him and he’s ready to put the last two years behind him, even if there were times when he lost faith.

“There's definitely perspective in there,” he said. “Playing bad on the golf course it's not as bad as some stuff people are dealing with, but there definitely is the faith in there that I know I can turn it around.

“Then there are also moments when you feel like it's not worth it, so it's been a mix, to be honest. But the future is unpredictable, and his game is unpredictable, so you never know. But I know I have faith in there that when I do find my game, I can play well enough to win and that's why I play, so I'll keep trucking along for the moment. There's nothing I'd rather do for now, but who knows.”

Dunne is at Fancourt Golf Estate with Niall Kearney, John Murphy and Gavin Moynihan for the Challenge Tour’s Dimension Data Pro-Am - the first of seven events in southern Africa.

It’s not the first time Dunne has been in the doldrums and after coming back stronger than ever the last time, he’s optimistic.

While he continues to work with a mental coach, he hasn’t spoken to other players who have been through similar struggles.

“Playing bad on the golf course it’s not as bad as some stuff people are dealing with, but there definitely is the faith in there that I know I can turn it around. ”

— Paul Dunne

“No, I've kept it between myself and my team and my family and friends, but I haven't reached out to any other players,” he said. “It's a funny game, isn't it? I remember in the amateur days I went through similar stuff, and you almost play your Best of right after it, so I'm hoping for more of that. When you struggle, you put in more work, and when you put in more work and then you eventually get out of your own way and let it happen, the work starts to pay off.

"Obviously, this slump has been a lot longer than most with other stuff thrown in there (Covid and hand injury). But it's all the same, really.”

After setting up a winter base in Dubai, he’s hoping the get some momentum going by playing four or five of the seven in southern Africa over the next two months.

“My aim for the year would be to win a tournament and get back onto the main tour full-time,” he added. “Right now, my category is a bit half and half or more skewed towards the Challenge Tour.

“It's been an interesting few years for me, but I'm just looking forward to getting things back on track and playing some good golf again.”

Given his poor form since 2019, he admits he’s anxious about what lies in store but he knows what he must improve.

“Obviously, I haven't driven the ball well, but I haven't got the driver yips,” he said. “I've no mental blocks. I just need to tighten everything up compared to last year.

“Even the things I do well, I didn't do well enough. My short game wasn't as good as it should've been.

“That should be a differentiating factor where I should be up there with the best of them.”

As for goals, there are long term ones and intermediate ones to achieve.

“Getting full status back on the main tour would be the start and then winning a tournament. I would rather be on the main tour than the Challenge Tour, but I'd like to get back feeling like I could win tournaments again. That's the goal. I've got loads of mini-goals in there, but that's the overarching aim of the year to get back on the schedule that I feel like I should be.”

He’s thrilled to see Seamus Power riding a wave of momentum on the PGA Tour and hopes to see himself back at the business end of big events soon.

“It's great to see Seamus doing well and he's riding the momentum really nicely,” he said. “He's been grinding at the game for a long time.

“There are a million stories like that in golf. Unless you were one of the top players and even then, they have their own peaks and troughs, we're just at a different level. Still, you never know some people grind it for years, and then break through. I half broke through early enough and I've been in a bit of a dip, so I'm hoping for a late charge. OK not to a late charge, but it feels like a late charge to get back to where I was.”

Dunne showed flashes of his old self last year and he’s just waiting for the engine to roar to life.

“There are always rays of sunshine with your game,” he said. “I haven't had a phase where I feel like I've completely lost everything. It's always been something, and then that little something maybe gets in your head a little bit, or you just don't quite score as well as you should.

“You keep seeing yourself not do as well as you can, and then your expectations change are you put a bit too much pressure on yourself. But there have been loads of rays of sunshine. I play all the time and shoot good scores regularly.”

Asked if he still recognises the Paul Dunne who won the British Masters by three shots from Rory McIlroy in 2017, he said: “It’s definitely still me anyway,” he joked. “I just have different feels in my golf game than I did then and now I'm just trying to work back towards when I played my best. That probably wasn't the time I was playing my best, but I'd take it again just to get the ball rolling.”

“I’m part of the lucky generation to benefit from what was built by the likes of Jack and Arnie and Player.”

— Séamus Power can pass Jack Nicklaus in career earnings this week

With The Open returning to the Old Course at St Andrews this year, winning a place in that field would be a sign he’s on his way back.

“It would be great obviously,” he said. “I’m assuming I'd have to do both qualifying stages, but I'm going to enter them obviously because I love St Andrews and I always play well there, so it would be great to get a spot and get back into familiar surroundings.”

Power looks certain to qualify on merit and he’s feeling good about his game even though he lost a five-shot halfway lead in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am last week.

He still finished tied ninth to move to eighth in the FedEx Cup and he’s looking for another big week in the WM Phoenix Open.

With career earnings of $5.69 million, he can overtake 18-time major winner Jack Nicklaus ($5.73 m) just by making the cut at TPC Scottsdale, something he would not have imagined when he missed the cut on his lone appearance in Phoenix in 2019.

“It’s amazing how the money in golf has gone through the roof,” said Power, who is joined in the desert by Graeme McDowell. “I’m part of the lucky generation to benefit from what was built by the likes of Jack and Arnie and Player.”

He was 420th in the world when he missed the cut in Scottsdale three years ago and admits it feels strange to go back as world number 46.

“I don’t have much memory of playing or how the course played except that it was a real struggle, so was lovely to start a new story here today,” he said.

He has no regrets about the final round 74 he shot in The American Express two weeks ago when just two shots off the lead, or the weekend rounds of 74 and 72 that cost him his chance of victory in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

“Just the ball control was a little off,” he said. “I was starting it a bit too far left or losing it with over cut to the right. But it’s my normal issue so I know how to fix it.

“Golf is a funny game and with all the multi-course venues early in the year, it can be that one of the courses just doesn’t fit the eyes as the others do. But the game hasn’t been quite as sharp so that has been a bit of it too. In this crazy game, it’s always a work in progress.”

World number one Jon Rahm and defending champion Brooks Koepka will be looking to deny Viktor Hovland his fourth win in six starts but the course should suit Power’s current skill set.

“Fairways are running fast so a good driver has a huge advantage to get more loft into a lot of elevated, firm greens,” Power said.

On the DP World Tour, Jonny Caldwell and Cormac Sharvin will be looking to build on their second-place finish together in the Hero Challenge title at Al Hamra Golf Club when they tee it up in the Ras Al Khaimah Classic.