FOR most footballers, the golf course is a place you go to knock off, loosen the shoulders and have a good time.
But when QPR midfielder Gary O'Neil stands on the tee, the nerves jangle far more than at kick-off on a Saturday afternoon. That's because the 30-year-old is a scratch golfer who regularly competes in pro tournaments and has even attempted to qualify for the British Open.
O'Neil's last bash at the Claret Jug was in June 2012, when he took on 118 other golfers at the London Club in Kent – his home course – for a place at Royal Lytham and St Annes.
Yet while you'd expect a career in football to give him a competitive edge, O'Neil says the opposite is true.
“It is very nerve-wracking,” admits O'Neil, who shot a seven over par 79 in the regional qualifier.
“The worst thing is, I know how much preparation goes into being a professional sportsman.
Nervous
“So when I'm standing ready to tee off, I know for a fact I haven't put as much work in as the other lads because it's their day job. You feel massively under-prepared.
“At the football on a Saturday, there might be 40,000 people watching and millions riding on it but you don't worry because it's your full-time job.
“You know you've been doing it your whole life and you're fully equipped to deal with the situation. With golf I'm not, and that makes me much more nervous.
“If I was doing it full-time, I'd find it easier. But going on holiday to Dubai with the missus for a week then turning up on Sunday to play against professional golfers is a tall order!”
The former Portsmouth, Middlesbrough and West Ham star is honest enough to admit that actually playing in the Open is a pipe dream, especially with football taking up nine months of the year.
“I never did it with a realistic view of getting through,” he says. “Even if I did, I wouldn't be able to play because I'd be back in pre-season by the second qualifying round.
“It was more just for the experience and for a bit of competitive edge. Otherwise I'd just end up playing on Sunday mornings with me mates for a fiver.
“I've also had a few invites from the EuroPro tour, which is like the lower tier of the European tour. It's the feeder events at the bottom where the young kids come through. I appreciated that and I still try to go along when I can to repay them.
“I try not to take it too seriously, but being a professional sportsman for the last 15 years, the competitor in you takes over and you beat yourself up for not doing better.”
And while O'Neil is currently taking his coaching badges, he's still got half an eye on a career on the golf course when his playing days come to an end.
“I will definitely give it a little go,” he adds. “I'm doing my coaching badges and management is the aim long term. That's why I'm paying attention to Harry Redknapp and Steve McClaren, trying to learn as much as I can.
“I've had a good few managers and I've always been into the tactical side of the game. Whenever I play in games, or watch them, I always try to analyse what's going on and take a broader view.
“Ideally, I'll be a manager one day. But in the crossover period I might get time to have a little go at my golf as well.”
Right now, though, O'Neil is having a go at getting QPR back in the Premier League after being re-united with former Pompey boss Harry Redknapp – the man who sold him to Middlesbrough in 2007.
“Yeah, he's bought me once and sold me once,” laughs O'Neil, who joined from West Ham in July. “But there was never any falling out or animosity on either side.
“I remember he rang me and said: ‘Listen Gaz, I've got a few deals lined up and I need to get a bit of money in. We've got a decent offer from Boro and I'd like to accept it'.
Skill
“I understood and there were never any hard feelings at all. I enjoyed working with him and he treated me properly at the end.
“The dressing room is a stressful place for managers, and that three or four hours on a Saturday feels like life or death. That's when your job is on the line. I'm sure Harry is affected like all of them, but his skill is never letting it show.
“He's fantastic to work for. If you put in 100 per cent and do a job for him, he'll make sure you're looked after. He's very fair, makes sure everyone is happy. The only people who'll ever have a problem with Harry are the ones who don't do what they're employed to do.”
O'Neil says Redknapp's primary skill is creating a happy dressing room – something desperately required after two years of division and discord caused by an influx of big-money foreign signings.
Relegated from the Premier League in May, Redknapp has dispensed with an incredible 19 players this season and been rewarded with three wins from four games. In last week's 1-0 win at Bolton, all 11 players were British and O'Neil believes that is key to success in the Championship.
“I wasn't there last year so I don't know what happened,” he says. “But when I arrived, there was already a really good feel about the place.
“The gaffer said in the press that he was trying to sign the right type of person to cope with the Championship. People like myself, Karl Henry and Richard Dunne are all good English pros and you know what you're going to get. There's a good atmosphere now, the lads all get on. I'm really enjoying it and long may it continue.”
In fact, O'Neil is so confident that the Hoops will do well, he's already planning the end of season getaway.
“I haven't found anyone to play a round with here,” he adds. “But if all goes well maybe all the lads can go on a golfing holiday to celebrate promotion!”
TOP FLIGHT NOT A BIG STEP UP
LIKE West Brom at their bounciest, Gary O'Neil has yo-yoed between Premier League and Championship over the last few years.
Relegated with Middlesbrough in 2009, he spent a year-and-a-half in the second tier before joining Premier League West Ham, only to see the Hammers go down while he was injured.
Promotion was then followed by another year in the top flight before this summer's switch to QPR. It's been a bumpy journey but one that has left O'Neil convinced that the gap between the divisions is overstated.
“Personally, I don't think there's much difference between the top half of the Championship and the bottom 14 teams in the Premier League,” he says.
“If you look at the teams who go up, they don't often struggle as much as they did before. And by the same token, a lot of the teams who come down find it difficult even if they don't sell people.
“The big step comes when you're playing your Man Citys, your Man Uniteds. Teams who take every chance. You don't have games like that in the Championship.
“But playing Wigan or Bolton or Forest – that's not much different to playing a team at the bottom of the Prem.”
And O'Neil believes the reason the likes of Bolton and Wolves struggled so badly after relegation is an inability to adapt to the frenzied pace of the Championship.
“It is a different style,” he adds. “The emphasis is much more weighted towards the physical rather than the technical. The stats show you do a lot more high-intensity running.
“That allows players and teams to make up for a lack of ability with extra effort and extra fitness. That can often come as a bit of a shock to players used to the top flight.
“That's why the gaffer's got a lot of players here who've done it before. We've almost all had little spells in the Championship.”
