Supermarket employee changes his life thanks to bonus on DP World Tour

Joe Dean says the $217,000 Kenya Open 2024 will help him strengthen his financial position to further improve his career in Europe's top golf arena.

The Kenya Open 2024 concluded on February 25 with Darius Van Driel taking home the trophy and $424,270. Dean, in second place, took home $217,000.

"This money will help me change my life after four years of struggling with the thought that I would never have another chance to compete and develop my dream of professional golf. Last year, I worked more for Morrisons supermarket than I played golf," Dean told Golf Digest on February 26.

Joe Dean. Photo: Hillsborough_GC — Joe Dean. Photo: *Hillsborough_GC*

Dean is a British national and is 29 years old. He turned professional in 2016, but he only entered the DP World Tour in mid-November 2023 with an incomplete card.

A week after Dean’s promotion, Europe’s top professional golf circuit kicked off its new season, and has already played 11 tournaments, including the recent Kenya Open. However, Dean had only played events in Kenya and Doha two weeks earlier.

The British golfer had to miss many tournaments because he did not have enough money to cover the tour expenses. Therefore, right after being eliminated in Doha, Dean returned home to his old job - a delivery driver for the Morrisons supermarket chain. This is where he has worked part-time since 2019 to earn extra income on the professional golf path, after being dropped from the second-tier Challenge Tour. Interspersed with working for the supermarket is playing small-scale tournaments. "The income from a month of working shifts at Morrisons is probably only enough to pay for a one-way airfare to compete. The personal expenses for a DP World Tour tournament are very expensive," Dean said on Sky Sports on February 27.

Despite receiving $217,000 from the 2024 Kenya Open, Dean has not quit his job at Morrisons supermarket because the cost of traveling for a tournament on the DP World Tour, including airfare, food, accommodation, caddie hire... is at least $3,800.

"I have a few good people supporting me at the moment and hopefully I will get a sponsor soon so I don't have to rely on Morrisons for my salary," the Kenya Open runner-up added.

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