On 19 July 2024, Mike Lorenzo Vera snapped. His head said enough. He had just missed the cut at the Barracuda Championship. The seventh in ten tournaments. He made the decision to park golf. His mind couldn’t take it anymore. He was having a very hard time. There were nights when he would wake up screaming and sweating without understanding anything. Competition had ceased to be important. Golf was a hassle. Each round became an ordeal. He spoke with the DP World Tour and requested a medical exemption for mental health. It was quickly granted, and he put his clubs away in a garage for four months. It was time to heal.
He sought help from specialists. He received treatment, a lot of treatment, rested, and cleared his head. Four months after the Barracuda, he returned to the golf course. He was taking it easy. He wasn’t training or doing anything strenuous. Now nine holes, tomorrow 18, the day after in a buggy… It was playing for the sake of playing, regaining the feel, the energy. In short, the desire. Pure fun.
Today he played his first competitive round six months after snapping and shot 66 at the Emirates Golf Club. He has moved up in the rankings. The most important thing, however, is that he had a good time. He really enjoyed himself, and don’t think his golf was flawless. From 10 to 18, his first nine, he had to save some rather curious pars, like on 14, 15, and 16. On 17, he sank a very long birdie putt, and from there, he managed to produce his best golf, including an eagle on 18. That’s golf for you. From 10 to 18, he was four under, and from 1 to 9, playing more solid golf, he ‘only’ signed for one under.
Lorenzo Vera has nine tournaments ahead with a medical exemption to save his card. He needs to earn 205.72 points to reach the figure achieved by Ross Fisher, the last to retain his rights in 2024. If he manages to finish better than eighth alone this week, this matter would already be settled. His plan is to play the four desert tournaments (Dubai, Ras al Khaimah, Bahrain, and Qatar) and add the other five once the tour returns to Europe. It’s a very well-thought-out return to competition, carefully planned and adapted to keep his mind as clear as possible.
Today’s round at the Emirates Golf Club was very important in his evolution. In fact, this entire desert tour was a turning point in his career and life. For this reason, the French golfer wanted to surround himself with his closest circle these days. This week, he is sharing an apartment with his brother Franck, who is also his coach, his physical trainer, and his caddie, the Spaniard Íñigo Urquizu. In the next three weeks, he will do the same, although without his brother, who returns to France.
Urquizu is much more than a caddie to Mike. They have been friends since they were children. They competed and trained together on many occasions. Similarly, Lorenzo Vera’s best year on the DP World Tour was with Íñigo handling the bag. You have to go back to 2019 when Mike almost reached the top 50 in the world and was close to winning the DP World Tour Championship. After that, strangely, just two days after the Dubai final, the Frenchman decided to change caddies. Undoubtedly, that season, just before the pandemic, was when he enjoyed golf the most, and today he did it again in a big way. Both left the course with smiles from ear to ear. Six months after snapping.
