Chacarra focussed on Yas Links with Race to Dubai in mind

DP World India Championship winner and Race to Dubai leader Eugenio Chacarra of Spain is keeping his eye on the big prize headed into this week’s Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship. Image courtesy DP World Tour.

Chacarra focussed on Yas Links with Race to Dubai in mind

By Rahul Banerji

DP World India Championship winner Eugenio Chacarra is taking it one step at a time towards winning the Race to Dubai starting with this week’s Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship.

Chacarra tops the Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World, replacing long-time leader Patrick Reed of the US after his third win of the season in New Delhi last month, the DPWT said.

But with plenty of points available at both Abu Dhabi and the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, even a win at Yas Links may not guarantee him the title.

In the pursuing pack and closest to the Spaniard are Reed, Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy and South African Casey Jarvis, who can all still overtake him.

Chacarra is therefore not getting ahead of himself as he strives to become just the third of his countrymen to lift the Harry Vardon Trophy after Seve Ballesteros and Jon Rahm.

“The Race to Dubai, the rankings, things that I can’t control, there’s tremendous players behind me that want it as bad as me, so I can’t control how they are going to play,” Chacarra said on Tuesday. 

“What I can control is my game, my preparation and myself, and that’s what I’m going to do to hopefully have a chance on Sunday.

“Obviously it’s a Play-Off and there’s going to be better scores and people pressing, but if I can play the way I’ve been playing all year, I like my chances on Sunday.

Lone goal

“So that’s my only goal. Prepare for the course, the week, to have a chance to win on Sunday; treat it as another tournament.

“Every time I tee off, I want to win. That’s my goal. I love playing. I love competing. So that’s what I’m trying to do this week. I’m trying to go and have a chance on Sunday on last nine holes to win the tournament.”

Chacarra will have a good look at his two nearest rivals in round one as he plays alongside Reed and McIlroy in the final group of the day on Thursday.

Reed has won twice this season and McIlroy once, although the world number two’s came at the Masters, a major which Reed also won in 2018.

That puts Chacarra in rarified air on the first tee but the confident 26-year-old says he will not be overawed, although he will enjoy watching his “idol” McIlroy.

“I’m excited. I dream of playing with the best players in the world, and I get a chance to play with Rory, first time playing with Rory. 

Super excited

“I’ve been watching him play since I was little. He’s one of my idols. So super excited for the opportunity.

“I had a chance to play with two great players in India, in Justin Rose and Min Woo Lee the first couple of rounds, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

“So I’m excited to have the pressure on to go out there and show that I can compete with them like I’ve been doing all year. Just have some fun.”

One of those Chacarra is aiming to emulate by topping the rankings is stepping into unfamiliar territory this week, with two-time major winner Jon Rahm making his Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship debut.

He may be “rusty” after the recent birth of his fourth child but the former world no. 1 is out to move up from 51st place as the top 70 at Abu Dhabi get trimmed down to 50 in the final week of the season. 

After enjoying the chance to just be a dad over the past few weeks, Rahm – who has a joint-record five Rolex Series wins to his name – is focusing on getting back to work and mastering the “fantastic” Yas Links layout. 

“Only saw the front nine. It’s in about as good a shape as you can expect a golf course to be,” Rahm said on Tuesday. 

Perfect conditions

“That was absolutely fantastic. Not a blade of grass out of place. Firm, but reactive in a consistent way. It was truly enjoyable.

“The one thing everybody has told me coming to this golf course is that it’s always in great shape and there’s a lot of movement to the greens. 

“That’s main two things that I had. Overall it’s very positive, and Tyrrell (Hatton) was the same. He said it’s in perfect shape.

“It’s a good golf course, and there’s going to be some unusual visuals in the greens and shots just because of how much undulation there is but overall it’s good. He was very positive.

“I think nowadays, we get very caught up on a golf course fitting a player, where I think as players, it’s our duty to adjust to the golf course and the conditions. 

“I think the players that can do that the best are the ones that can win consistently. If you only play where you think you can play good, it’s going to be a very short career, at least as far as I’m concerned.

“So those versatile players that can adjust to the ever-changing conditions I think are the ones that have the ability to win on more golf courses, right. It’s my job to hopefully adjust to how things are going.”

Also read: Chacarra scores tough DPWIC win to top Race to Dubai rankings