Matt Maher: Staffordshire's Richard Mansell facing up to the highs and lows of golf

Not even 10 hours after stepping off a plane from Sweden, the Staffordshire golfer found himself 60ft off the ground, peering over the edge of Birmingham’s Utilita Arena while attempting to chip a biodegradable ball onto the Brindley Place canal island as part of a stunt promoting this month’s British Masters tournament.

It was impressive stuff even before Mansell revealed he suffers from a fear of heights.

“I’m not great. I definitely prefer being on the ground,” he admits afterwards, sat in one of the arena’s hospitality areas repurposed as a staging area for Monday lunchtime’s drama, which was supported by the venue along with the Canal & Rivers Trust.

“I don’t really know how it came about, if I’m honest,” he continues. “The Masters is at the Belfry and I’m probably the most local player, so I guess that’s why the call came my way.

“I was asked if I wanted to do it and I thought’ yeah, why not?’ I was a little bit nervous but once I was up there, I felt safe and secure.”

Lack of sleep notwithstanding, Mansell is in positive mood, his spirits no doubt helped by a final round 64 the previous day at the Scandinavian Masters.

Yet the 28-year-old admits that has not always been the case during the opening months of the year which, from a mental viewpoint, he regards as probably his toughest since picking up a club. The ensuing conversation goes on to give some insight into the psychology of sport and the love/hate relationship which often exists between professional athletes and their craft.

Mansell would be the first to express his fortune at being able to play golf for a living. Human nature dictates there are times, however, when he must remind himself.

“There are points where you ask yourself, when things aren’t going so well, what am I doing?” he says. “You’ll be six weeks away from family and friends and results haven’t been good. Even if you make the cut, you are up at 4am at weekends. It catches up.

“When you are playing well and riding a wave it is amazing. You feel like you can just keep going. But when it is hard, it is really hard.”

Mansell’s struggles through the first half of 2023 are maybe the result, in part, of 2022 having gone so well.

Two third-placed finishes and a further four top-10 placings proved something of a breakthrough campaign on the DP Tour and earned him a place in the Great Britain and Ireland team which took on Continental Europe in January’s Hero Cup. A growing number of observers felt, with a strong start to the year, he’d be a decent outside bet for the Ryder Cup. It has not turned out that way.

“It was maybe a case of a little bit too much, too soon,” reflects Mansell. “I have struggled mentally for a couple of months really. It’s been tough. The first time I have ever really felt that way. I’ve had to work hard to get back to the confident player I always have been.”

Part of that process has been learning to be more open about his feelings, whether to family or members of his coaching team – with Mansell admitting he was previously guilty of “bottling stuff up” in the belief he had to act like the “ultimate athlete”. He’s also made a conscious attempt to reduce the time he spends on social media.

“There is so much out there which can make you feel you aren’t good enough,” he says. “I think sometimes as a professional athlete you feel like you should be a certain type of person, or act in a certain way simply to please others.

“But that can be dangerous. You might find you are pleasing others but not pleasing yourself.

“I feel recently I have made a big step forward with that. I appreciate what I have got, not what I haven’t. I’m going to take one day at a time, keep working hard and see what happens.”

The strong final round in Sweden followed a 68 the previous Sunday at the European Open and Mansell, who will watch this weekend’s US Open from home before resuming his season at the International Open in Germany, is confident good results are on the way.

“You are always playing against yourself,” he says. “You can hit one good shot and think you’ve cracked it and the next one really brings you back down to earth. That is the sport.

“It has been a little bit that way for me recently. But I am genuinely feeling better about my game and confident something good is round the corner. I feel like I am a better golfer than last year, even if it might not show yet in the scores and results.”

In a sport where travelling is well into the tens of thousands of miles each year, having the British Masters at the Belfry is the equivalent of staging a tournament in the backyard of Mansell’s Burntwood home.

“It’s the one tournament where I get to sleep in my own bed,” he smiles. “If I play well, great. If I don’t, then at least I get to go home and see the dog.

“You always need to remember it’s a game. Of course, it’s my job and I am really fortunate.

“But I know I perform and play at my best when I love the game, in the same way amateur golfers go and do so on a weekend. I always try and remember that.”

n The British Masters takes place at the Belfry between June 29 and July 2. Tickets are available at europeantour.com