TROON, Scotland — Most have never heard of Joe Dean.
At 4-over entering the final round after shooting an even-par 71 on Saturday, he’s not going to win the British Open at Royal Troon.
But Dean is playing in the Open, and that, in itself, is a cool story.
The 30-year-old mini-tour journeyman from England, who is eight shots behind third-round leader Billy Horschel, was driving a food delivery truck for Morrisons, a U.K. supermarket chain, after COVID-19, and he’s “still on the books” despite continuing to pursue his dream as a professional golfer.
“A lot of guys I know who are good friends of mine are very good players, and they’ve never played in one of these,’’ Dean told The Post. “So yeah, it’s amazing.’’
Dean was trying to survive on the Challenge Tour, which is a step down from the DP World Tour, when COVID shut the world down.
That’s when his fiancée, Emily Lyle, urged him to get a real job.
“It wasn’t my decision,’’ Dean said. “The fiancée, she went, ‘You’re not sitting around all day loitering, so go and get a job.’ I was like, ‘OK, fair enough.’ And to be honest, I’m very glad she did that because it meant we could get a house we’ve always wanted and start our own lives and just be nice and comfortable.
“I think it was maybe inside a week from [COVID-19], the local Morrisons was advertising for drivers because, obviously, they knew that this was going to blow up,’’ Dean said. “So, I went straight down there signed up, and then within a week or two, I was driving. Technically, I’m still on the books.
“During lockdown, I was doing 30 to 35 hours a week. As the golf kicked in, I took it back to 25 hours, two or three days a week, and just went from there.’’
Before Dean won 170,000 Sterling Pounds for a runner-up finish at the Magical Kenya Open earlier this season, his largest golf payday was 20,000 pounds for making the cut at the 2017 Open at Birkdale.
Dean laughs at the fact his fellow delivery truck drivers don’t know anything about golf and have no idea how special it is he’s playing in the Open.
“Not a lot of them know about the golf, so when I came back and said I qualified for the Open, they said, ‘So, what does that mean? Does that mean you’re not working next week?’ ’’
Dean has been working this week, pursuing a different kind of career.
He qualified for the Open based on two runner-up finishes on the DP World Tour.
Where he goes next, Dean doesn’t seem too stressed about.
“We’ve got a comfy life, and home life is nice,’’ he said. “So, I say if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be.’’
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