After nine missed cuts, Dougherty set to try break streak at Iberdrola Open

The funeral of Seve Ballesteros gave every golfer a reason to pause and reflect on Wednesday, whether they were in Florida preparing for the sport's richest event or in Mallorca trying to find light at the end of a dark tunnel.

Nick Dougherty's once glittering career has so far this year been one long tale of woe -- nine events, nine missed cuts, not a penny earned.

But after pulling out of last week's Spanish Open and flying instead from Korea to San Francisco and then on to Florida to seek help from his father, the 28-year-old from Liverpool steps back onto the European Tour as determined as ever. He’s back at it this week in the European Tour’s Iberdrola Open on the Spanish island of Mallorca.

"I will keep going and I will find a way out -- hopefully sooner rather than later," Dougherty said. "Once I've started to see some good results again, I think it will snowball. It's staying patient and staying calm, which is getting more and more difficult.

"You get to the point when it starts getting on top of you and it starts to dominate your life,” he explained. "You can't just leave it at the golf course, go home and shout 'Hey baby, I shot 84 today, but life's great'."

Dougherty, who married Sky Sports golf presenter Di Stewart on New Year's Eve, has not got as bad as an 84. But a second-round 82 at the recent Balantine’s Championship in Korea plunged him into more despondency.

"I sat there and thought, 'I'm a million miles from anybody, I've missed another cut, I'm having a horrible season, I'm in a strange place, I haven't got any of my support group here,'” he said. "It's a horrible, horrible feeling. You're in a room and you know you need to escape it. It's awful, terrible -- a dark place.

"I just decided I needed to spend time with my dad. It was about clearing my mind, going back to basics and also being alongside somebody very strong-minded,” he added. "He says there's no reason why on the back of all this I can't go out there and win the U.S. Open or the British Open or just go out and win tournaments and be extremely happy.

"Things used to come so easy, but my principles and my beliefs got rocked when my mum died (in 2008). I started thinking that things do go wrong in your life, massively wrong,” Dougherty explained. "I played for my mum and dad and when she wasn't there any more it creeps into your head that maybe things won't always work out."

Dougherty had finished seventh in the U.S. Open the previous June, then made the cut in his Masters debut and was in contention for a first Ryder Cup berth.

He draws strength from the fact that Lee Westwood crashed from fourth in the world to outside the top 250 and then climbed to No. 1.

"Everyone fails at times, but I've always been the sort who comes back stronger,” said Dougherty, who is now 526th in the rankings. "I've reached the point where I can't remember how to play great golf any more and can't picture what it felt like when I was winning tournaments.

"It's been a long time and it's heartbreaking to me, but I will always fight through it because it's who I am -- I don't know any other way,” he added. "I don't like being beaten by anyone or anything. I don't mind getting a bit of a battering as long as in the end I can win the war.

"This stretch has not been a big part of my career. It just feels like my entire life -- you can imagine, every day seems to last 10,” he said. "You're pulling your hair out and you're almost close to tears -- it's like watching the same film every week -- but you can't keep me down. I got that from my dad and my mum."

And the fact that he is prepared to be so open about things is, Dougherty believes, going to help him bring the nightmare to an earlier end.

"There's no point hiding from it. I've always been open and honest,” he said. "I think if you look the problem and the challenge in the eye you've got a chance of beating it. When you turn around and run you're never going to get away from it.

"I just need to go back to doing simple stuff. Stuff that got me on tour, made me rookie of the year and got me a long way,” he said. "I think some simplicity will help me get some clarity in my mind. I will work it out."