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The DP World Tour Championship Diary: I am hoping to make the most of my local knowledge of the Earth course

With 12,000 Race to Dubai points up for grabs it just shows what is at stake over the week at the Jumeirah Golf Estates

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n: Dubai based Adrian Meronk playing in the Rolex Pro-Am on Earth course at Jumeirah Golf Estates. - Supplied photo

By By Adrian Meronk

Published: Wed 15 Nov 2023, 9:04 PM

It is so good to be back in Dubai at home after such a long season on the DP World Tour and other tours around the world of golf.

It is my final tournament of the 2022 – 2023 Race to Dubai season and we are playing this week’s $10 million DP World Tour Championship over the Earth course at Jumeirah Golf Estates. This week is one of The ROLEX Series Events – one of five during the season with three held here in the UAE.

I really enjoy the Greg Norman designed layout and I am really hoping for one last push.

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I have more local knowledge than, perhaps, anyone in the field and I currently stand in third place in the Race to Dubai behind Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm and just ahead of New Zealand’s Ryan Fox. I am in good company.

A statistic I heard is that all the 50 players in the field are still in the mix on getting into the Top 10 for their PGA Tour cards – as long as they do not already have one already.

With 12,000 Race to Dubai points up for grabs it just shows what is at stake.

I am holding No 1 spot as I write this diary but my record at JGE is short.

This is only my third visit to the season ending event after last year where I shot rounds of 70, 71, 65 and 71, to finish 11 under par and tied seventh. It put me in ninth place for the season-long Race to Dubai and 58th in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR).

In 2021 I had rounds of 68, 74, 74 and 66 to finish tied 32nd in the tournament, 39th on the Race to Dubai and I moved to 161st on the OWGR.

These statistics just show how I have upped my game over the last couple of seasons with my four wins on the DP World Tour.

My tee time for the first round on Thursday is 12.35 pm alongside Ryan Fox, with only Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy behind us in the final tee time of the day at 12.45 pm

I like this as the tournament unusually starts from the first shot on day one with the ‘leaders’ out last.

I am ready for this week. I enjoyed my ROLEX Pro-Am Day with a DP World Team on Tuesday in the afternoon shotgun where we finished in sixth place on 24 under par, with the winners nine shots ahead.

I must stay in the moment, play one shot at a time and follow my process that has worked so well over the last couple of years. That is everyone’s language but perhaps easier said than done.

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Wish me luck as it is a very big week for so many people me included.

I have seen the week’s weather forecast and there may be showers and lighting on Friday for round two. Let’s hope the meteorologists have got it all wrong. There is nothing better than sun in November in Dubai at the DP World Tour Championship.

Speak to you after my first round.

Adrian Meronk is a 30 year old Dubai resident who is managed by Dubai -based The Spotlight Agency.

By Adrian Meronk

Published: Wed 15 Nov 2023, 9:04 PM

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