October/November 2009

Like I had been saying all year, I’ve been having a fantastic season and the only thing missing was a win. I felt like I played very, very consistent all year, to be the leading guy in the majors obviously shows that my golf has been pretty good. I was a bit frustrated and a bit disappointed not to have won.  And then I went to Spain for the Volvo World Match Play...

Victory in Spain was the biggest moment in my career – so far!  This was the moment I made a big statement, and cemented my place back in the Race to Dubai. Any time you win is special but this one was more so because it is such an historic tournament and it is match play – it’s just a bit different to a normal event, as we’re so used to playing strokeplay.  Holland was special because it was my first win (the KLM Open, 2007) and winning the European Open last year was special because it was in London, and I won by such a large margin in eight shots. But the Volvo World Match Play Championship is probably more satisfying because it is a different sort of golf.

I would love to have done it at Wentworth, and in a way it was kind of ironic that the first time I played the event, it was not at Wentworth and I ended up winning!  But I thought Finca Cortesin was a great course.  It was very tricky but a great match play course.  The whole set up there was absolutely first class and it was a really enjoyable week.  Finca Cortesin is one of the hilliest courses I’ve played and physically very demanding.

I think I played 153 holes that week, including pro-am and practice, hence it was a long, gruelling week, but obviously very worthwhile.  The semi-final was always going to be difficult against a Masters Champion in Angel Cabrera. Then to have to come out against a guy like Anthony Kim, he's a gritty competitor. He's probably one of the grittiest as they come.

I was just happy to get the lead at lunch, and then was really, really positive, I just kept doing what I was doing. Every time he had a look at a birdie I was always there as well and managed to roll in mu putts.  Even 2-, 3-, 4-up, Adam my caddy was brilliant. He said, "Come on, play like you're 1-down, play like you're fighting, one shot at a time, you've just got to keep fighting all the way." The words of encouragement really helped and, fortunately, the putter finally got a little bit hot. All week in Spain, my mental toughness was so strong and crucial to my success.  But I have to admit, all departments of my game were on top form.  I just started with a new driver, the Titleist D3. That seemed to be going really, really well.  Short game was really sharp. I worked really, really hard on my short game with Mark Roe and there were some shots out there that week that paid dividends.

The putter hasn't been as good as it could have been, and I've worked quite hard on that. Fortunately at the Match Play, it was slow to get going, but when I needed some crucial putts I holed them. Overall, I was absolutely delighted with every aspect of my game.

The winning cheque took me right up The Race to Dubai standings, it was a huge steppingstone. I was obviously a bit disappointed to slip down to seventh.  Recently I had missed two cuts (Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and the Portugal Masters).  They were two big cuts, and obviously guys like Ollie Wilson, Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer all playing well my Race to Dubai ranking was under serious threat.

So I knew I had to come into the Volvo World Match Play and perform. Getting to the final was good, but I really wanted to win because I know there was a big difference between winning and finishing runner-up.  So to win it is huge and it's given me a massive confidence boost. The following week in Shanghai at the WGC-HSBC Champions was quite tiring.  I was obviously on a high from Spain, but all the emotion from the win and the long travel east eventually took its toll.  I wanted to do better, and probably should have bar some sloppy costly shots on the home stretch over the weekend.  I still performed well and finished 28th. I was drawn to play with Tiger Woods the first two days.  That is always an experience and a pleasure, but it was quite distracting at times.  Not Tigers fault by any means, but the guy is so popular, there are thousands of people following him.  Thus, crowd management is quite difficult, and no more so than in China!  Still, we had a bit of fun over the two days.

Then there was the Dubai World Championship, and four of us were still in with a chance of winning.  I had a lot of family and friends with me - we stayed in a stunning house on The Palm. I celebrated my 29th birthday the Sunday of Dubai Week.  There was a big bunch of us and it was a really enjoyable evening.  So off the course, it was a great week, but unfortunately, another quite disappointing one on the course.  After a 42nd place at the Dubai World Championship, I was unable to improve on my 4th position in the Race to Dubai.  Still. after a long season it is a great position.  I was hoping for better, but it was not to be.  I now have a clear target set for next seasons race!