Boy Dunne Good

What did you learn from playing in the 2014 Open at Royal Liverpool?

It was great. I was there with Bradley Neil, who won the British Amateur, on the Monday and we arranged to go out for a nine-hole practise round with Shane Lowry. Obviously, Shane's a big name, but I knew him, so it wasn't too overwhelming. Then Adam Scott joined us for nine holes and he was World No. 1 at the time! It was good that way, it dropped us in the deep end. I think what I learned from it was how to handle myself, to hit shots in an environment that I wasn't really used to. It was quite hectic, with a lot of people around, a lot of movement. It's important to try to stay focused even when there are a lot of distractions around. Although I didn't make the cut it was definitely a good experience.

How had your game changed by the time you teed up at St Andrews in 2015?

I was a much better driver of the ball. I think that has made a big difference to my scores, which are a lot more consistent. As well as that, playing The Open the year before was such a big deal for my family and everyone around the club, it was hyped up so much. With the first one out of the way, the hype around it wasn't so much, so it was more about playing well rather than just being there. It was also great to have my coach from America, Alan Murray, supporting me. He was over in Europe recruiting for juniors, so it was fantastic to have him on the bag as well.

How did you feel after round there, becoming the first amateur to lead The Open at that point since 1927?

I felt okay. There were nine of us in our house, so I wasn't sitting there on my own thinking about it. My tee time was also late on the Sunday [round three] so by the time I'd finished, done interviews, had food – it was late! I had a lot of adrenaline going during the day and then I sat on the couch afterwards and just collapsed. So I didn't have any trouble getting to sleep.

How about teeing off in the final round tied for the lead?

I think the big difference was that for the first few rounds it was just great to be doing well. I guess during the final round I was focused too much on trying to win. With so much golf left, if only I'd just gone out like the other days, trying as hard as I could rather than trying to win. If I didn't hit a perfect shot, panic set in that I might not win. It's easy to say that you have to get off to a good start, but you don't have to. That's something I definitely learned from it – not to force the issue trying to hit it too close on the first few holes. When I did get it back on the 5th, I put way too much pressure on myself to make birdie putts from 10 to 20 feet, rather than just focusing on my targets, my golf and just letting the rest of the things take care of themselves.

Rather than going out with the goal that I needed to win – you can't control that – it would have been better to work out a goal like trying to hit every shot in the right frame of mind. If that's your goal, you take the result out of it. You're not trying to control your ball flight, you're trying to control your thought process. I think I'd have played a lot better if I knew that going in, but then again I'm not sure I'd know it now if it wasn't for that experience.