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With his beaming smile and infectious energy, Mike Lorenzo-Vera is back lighting up the driving ranges of the DP World Tour once more.
When bunkered.co.uk last spoke to Lorenzo-Vera in October, he had put the clubs away for a while during a troubling time to look after his mental health.
The Frenchman – a popular personality on the European circuit since 2008 – had become consumed by a barrage of negative thoughts and vividly described feeling like he was “drowning.”
“I was just screaming every night and couldn’t sleep and feeling like I was dying. I was having panic attacks at dinners,” he recalled.
“I just didn’t believe it was my mental health. I thought it was pressure and frustration. Or food or alcohol. Because I’m a little bit stubborn I thought if you play better, things are going to be better. But no, you will play better if your mental health is better.
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“Sometimes you need to push the ground to push back and go up again. I felt like I touched the worst of my mental health.”
And that’s exactly what Lorenzo-Vera has done.
The 39-year-old has spent his time away from the game with his family in France and – at least temporarily – put golf out of his mind.
Now, five months on from his last start, he’s making his return at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, the first Rolex Series event of the season on the DP World Tour.
“I still have up and downs but at least the downs are higher than before,” he said. “I’m in a better direction. The mental work has been really good. I have a fantastic team and family around me.
“Last week my caddie called me and said, ‘what do you want to do next week?’ I said ‘just laugh’. Just enjoy my golf again. Even if I play bad, there’s still some good stuff. We will try to have the mindset to have fun throughout the week. We’ll see what happens.”
In these early days, Lorenzo-Vera frankly does not care about his scorecard – only his mindset.
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“I know what’s going to happen,” he laughs. “I can say I’m not winning the tournament. I hope I’m wrong. The competitive mind is a bit rusty but you’ve got to have a great mindset.
“I’m just here to play good. Not try to do incredible things. I know I need points but when you’re chasing points trying to push too hard – you know the story.
“It’s golf. I just want to get out there and enjoy working again.”
He may shoot 65 or 85 here at the Majlis course on Thursday, but at least Lorenzo-Vera is smiling again.
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