The season has been very good. Two victories, Dubai Final, three Majors, the cut passed in the PGA Championship… honestly, I think objectively it’s something to be happy about, but you already know how fast global golf is moving and how enormously prepared the young ones are coming to the Tour. One cannot rest on their laurels and must continue to progress so as not to fall behind.
I was annoyed to miss out on the Open Championship by so little. As you know, the top 30 in the Race to Dubai at the end of the course qualified directly for Royal Troon 2024 and I finished in 31st place. In the end, it’s the small details, a stroke here or there, a bad weekend. It’s one of the things I have etched in my mind, you have to fight for all of them. I don’t know if it’s the age, the years I’ve been on the Tour, Adriana’s influence, that I’m going to be a father, or maybe a bit of everything, but I’m clear that every week, every day of golf, every stroke, counts.
I won’t deny that it was very difficult for me to make the decision not to be at Leopard Creek this week to play the Alfred Dunhill Championship. Beyond the fact that I have won it in the past, it is one of my favourite tournaments, I love playing in South Africa and that place is something very close to paradise. However, both my team and I were clear that I needed a break and, above all, to have a very good preseason to arrive in January in the best possible condition.
In this sense, right now it’s time to be in the gym. There’s a promise I made to Raúl, my caddie, and I want to keep it. I committed to him to arrive in January with three more miles of ball speed with the driver. I finished the year with 169 and the idea is to get to 172. There’s no other choice if you want to compete right now in the DP World Tour. You have to gain distance. That’s what we’re working on.
In this sense, the main goal for the first few months is to try to stay among the top 100 in the world to secure the PGA Championship and, from there, whatever comes, welcome it, without giving up anything, as always. As the calendar is set up, the first four months of the year are becoming more and more important.
And now, to work hard on the physical to keep the promise in January.
