I’m looking forward to a break when I’m not on Tour as I really like after what has been a long but amazing season for me where I achieved three of my dreams by playing in the Masters, the Olympics and the Ryder Cup. I was disappointed with my nish in the DP World Tour Championship after shooting the round of the week with a 63 in the third round – just one stroke off the course record to put myself in contention, two shots off the lead.
I had high hopes for the nal round but it was a tough day for me, shooting 3-over and dropping out of contention. But that’s golf for you, you can be up one day and down the next or vice versa – the key is not to get too carried away when things are going well, and not to get too down when they’re not. Overall it’s been the best season of my career and one that I will remember for a long time.
The gol ng year didn’t actually end for me in Dubai as I went to Australia to play the World Cup the next week and I still have the UBS Hong Kong Open to play before I can put the clubs away for a while, which will be great. For me, Christmas is all about family time – but a bit of sur ng, skiing and relaxing is on the agenda as well. I’ll also thrown in some golf here and there so that I can be ready for the start of the season.
But I won’t touch a golf club for at least 15 days, which is important in order to have some mental rest. I just want to forget about golf and do other things as there is more to life than just golf. I’d be very happy to stop for 15-20 days, depending on how much time I have.
I work on my tness a lot during the off-season as it’s possible to spend time on areas that I don’t have time to focus on during the season. I tend to lose weight throughout the year because of the stress of competition and the amount of travel I do. It’s tough to keep a regular rhythm and normal training schedule but luckily at Christmas I get to eat a lot and then train hard in the gym to get ready for the following year.
I’m also really looking forward to making Dubai my permanent base emirate. It’s a fun city and is great for golf. When I spend time here the weather is always amazing. Dubai has great practice facilities and it is the ideal location in the winter time to unwind and focus on my preparations for the new season.
My playing schedule for next year is not nalised yet but I’ll play on both the PGA Tour and the European Tour. I’ll most likely play the bigger events in Europe and also play in the USA so I’ll be going back and forth and clocking up the air miles!
The European Tour is set for an exciting new era with the announcement of the Rolex Series starting next season which I think is fantastic news for the Tour. At the moment it’s seven events, including the DP World Tour Championship, with some signi cant prize funds which will compete with the money on offer on the PGA Tour. We’re all really excited about it. Hopefully it will prove to be a big success and will get the support it deserves from the top players.
This season has been a successful one for me but I will set new goals for next year for sure. I want to raise the bar and not be complacent. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very happy and fortunate to have achieved what I did this season but I dream about achieving
more. Setting new goals and objectives will lead me to becoming a better player and that’s something that you never stop striving for.
