Joel Dahmen chips the 10th green during the first round of the Farmers Open at Torrey Pines North on Wednesday.
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A two-under 70 late in the final round earned Joel Dahmen a seat next to CBS reporter Amanda Balionis Friday night at Torrey Pines.
Dahmen finished his third round Birdie-Par, which was good considering he bogeyed 14 and 15 to erase two birdies he had earlier. Still, it was a strong day, and he begins Saturday’s final round of the Farmers Insurance Open tied for fourth at five under and four shots behind 54-hole leader Harris English.
As Dahmen sat next to Balionis for a live TV hit Friday, she reminded him of when they ran into each other back in October in San Diego.
“I’m here to get better at life,” he told her then.
A few months ago, Dahmen’s performance coach Chris Bertram had an idea for Dahmen (and Caddy Geno Bonnalie) to spend a few days training with a Navy SEAL. Bertram had some seal work with some of his other clients, and he thought it would be helpful for Dahmen to experience it as well.
“He thought it was a good idea for me to maybe toughen me up a little bit in a mental way,” Dahmen said. “When you think about the Navy SEALs stuff, you think of it as crazy, physical stuff. But honestly it’s more mental than anything.
“We did some water training,” he continued. “I am not Michael Phelps In the pool, that’s for sure. So, I did, I got better at life for those days. Like Geno here for me, as well as that was really fun, kind of more bonding stuff. But I don’t think I would have made it through the fall if I didn’t have that training. I can dig deeper than I thought I could before and there’s more out there, so we’re just trying to get into that more often. “
Dahmen talked more about the experience for him Golf Digestadding that he did things like run on the beach and swim around piers, swim in open water buoys and dive to the bottom of deep pools.
He ended 2024 on a high note, shooting a 64 in the final round of the RSM Classic to tie for 35th and Hold on to his PGA Tour card. So far this season he’s missed the cut in his two starts, but now he’s in a spot for a potential big finish on Saturday.
Will his seal training help?
“We’ll find out,” he told Balionis. “The way I played Sunday at Sea Island (in the RSM Classic) felt like a last round like trying to win a golf tournament, and I put myself in position if I can get off to a good start (Sunday ).I handled myself really well out there today. The nerves were pretty tight, so I’m just looking forward to having a chance.”
