The year 2023 has come to an end for me in terms of competition. The last round, at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai was a very fun end to the tournament and the season, hitting many good shots, playing very well from tee to green and feeling very comfortable on the course. I was ‘more Jon’ than the previous days.
I think it has been a great year, the results are there to confirm it and, although one always thinks it could have been better, I really think we can’t ask for more. I don’t think now is the time to start thinking about the year 2024, but I can already tell you that the plans are not going to change much, they are very simple: try to keep playing good golf, try to do very well in the Majors and win as many tournaments as I can. It’s not very mysterious…
The two big moments were the Masters and the Ryder Cup, that’s clear, although every victory is very important to me. I still have a few months left with the green jacket before next April, when I will do everything in my power to defend the title, of course. The truth is that I think I still haven’t fully digested the victory in Augusta and throughout the months it has always been a special moment every time I was introduced at the tee of any tournament as the Masters champion… Those who know me already know that I’m not much for wearing the green jacket in public, although, as I told the Spanish journalists in Dubai, I have also worn it in private, at home, to show it to friends and family. Not too many times, anyway, don’t get me wrong.
This year’s victories were concentrated in the early months and it’s true that after the victory at the Genesis I didn’t feel as comfortable from the tee, these are the things of golf, although in Augusta I found a way to put the ball almost always in play. And it’s also true that in the last tournaments I’ve played this year I’ve felt a bit better with the driver again. The last test is precisely this Sunday’s round in Dubai.
The competition in 2023 has ended for me, but not all the work. For example, in the coming weeks I will go to San Diego to test all the equipment for next year, the new Callaway gear, and finish setting up my complete bag with which I will start training and preparing for the first tournament of the year, which will again be the Sentry in Hawaii. I also have to finish closing my calendar for 2024, although I can already tell you that there won’t be many changes compared to this year.
I say goodbye until the next installment, but not before thanking you for all the support you have given me throughout the year.
