Not only was the 87 he posted in the second round of the Celtic Classic the worst of his professional career by five shots – and only the third time he has shot worse than 80 in a pro tournament – but the type of score he can’t even remember having as a kid.

But a much-needed shot of confidence and the return to the sunny skies of Spain has put Murray in a more positive frame of mind ahead of this week’s Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucia Masters at Real Club Valderrama.

Initially unsure as to whether he would travel to Europe to play within the European Tour bubble, Murray put girlfriend Amy on the bag to ensure he had someone to talk to at all times, her psychology degree coming in handy as his return to tournament golf hit an unexpected bump in the road.

After opening with a 6-over 78 Murray played the front nine of the second round in 4-over before imploding on the back nine, a quadruple bogey, triple bogey and double bogey contributing to a nine-hole total of 47 strokes and very unfamiliar territory.

“I’m not going to lie, those first couple of weeks were pretty hard,” Murray revealed. “To shoot 87 at Celtic Manor and then go out and play the same golf course again the next week, I found that pretty tough.

“There are some holes where you remember what you did the week before but you have to put it in the back of your mind and still try and grind it out.

“Those first couple of weeks I really didn’t know what I was doing.

“It was weird because before lockdown I was playing so well and competing at the highest level. In the last four or five events before lockdown I was in contention at most events and the game was feeling pretty easy.

“It’s a tough game sometimes. I wasn’t really worried but you can’t help thinking, How does it change so much in five months?”

With the help of Amy and some good-natured ribbing from fellow Aussies Scott Hend, Jake McLeod, Min Woo Lee and Jason Scrivener, Murray was able to shake off his Celtic Manor calamity and take positive steps at last week’s ISPS HANDA UK Championship at The Belfry.

Despite missing the cut for the third straight week, an opening round of 71 and some productive time on the range has given Murray the injection of confidence he needs to get back in contention.

“Although I missed the cut I played quite well in tough conditions and just made a few errors from being down on confidence,” Murray said of his second round of 78 last week.

“That’s all I’m really lacking at the moment, a bit of game-time confidence.

“I was disappointed (to miss the cut) and it was the first time I’d been frustrated on the trip because I knew I was playing better than I was scoring.

“I walked off 18 on Friday afternoon knowing that I was missing the cut but knowing that I’d played well. I had three double bogeys from three shots that weren’t that bad. I did some practice on Saturday morning and thought to myself that I was hitting it really good which excited me.

“It’s nice to go to an event knowing that you’re playing well.

“The confidence is a lot higher than it has been which is all it will really take for me, just a bit of confidence. String a couple of good weeks together and off I’ll go again.”

As for the support of Amy during time away that he hopes will carry through until the DP World Tour Championship from December 10, Murray admits that he would unlikely be playing without her.

“The travel stuff is sometimes a little difficult for me and I just thought that if I wanted to get back over and play I needed to have Amy with me,” said Murray, the 2019 New Zealand Open champion.

“That’s made it a lot easier. She has been around the game and around tournaments long enough now to know what she’s doing. She’s really good so that’s been nice.

“Her personality is super understanding and caring so for what I sometimes go through getting to tournaments or off the course, to have her to witness when it’s the most I’ve struggled on the course since I was a little kid has been pretty good because she saw that it’s not all smooth sailing all the time.

“It’s nice to have someone like her here that I can talk to and bounce ideas off because if you internalise a round like that it can turn pretty sour and spiral into a pretty tough time.”

Round 1 tee times (AEST)

European Tour
Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucia Masters
Real Club Valderrama, Sotogrande, Spain
4.35pm Wade Ormsby, Steven Brown, Thomas Bjorn
5.45pm Zach Murray, Calum Hill, Dave Coupland
7.20pm Jake McLeod, Carlos Pigem, Garrick Porteous
9.40pm Maverick Antcliff, Andres Romero, Toby Tree
10.20pm              Jason Scrivener, Matthieu Pavon, Joakim Lagergren
10.50pm              Michael Campbell, Ricardo Santos, David Howell

Defending champion: Christiaan Bezuidenhout
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Wade Ormsby
TV schedule: Live 8am-10pm, 11pm-2am Thursday, Friday; Live 9.30pm-2am Saturday, Sunday on Fox Sports 503.

PGA TOUR
Tour Championship
East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta, Georgia
2.20am Marc Leishman, Cameron Smith

Defending champion: Rory McIlroy
Past Aussie winners: Adam Scott (2006)
Top Aussie prediction: Cameron Smith
TV schedule: Live 3am-8am Saturday, Sunday; 3am-9am Monday; 2am-8am Tuesday on Fox Sports 503.

Korn Ferry Tour
Lincoln Land Championship
Panther Creek Country Club, Springfield, Illinois
9.50pm*              Steven Alker, Kyle Reifers, Nick Hardy
10.40pm              Curtis Luck, David Lingmerth, Sam Saunders
11.10pm              Brett Drewitt, Zach Wright, Chandler Phillips
3.40am*              Jamie Arnold, Curtis Thompson, Jim Knous
4.30am*              Nick Voke, Steve Lewton, Matt Gilchrest

Defending champion: Xinjun Zhang
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Jamie Arnold