Eugenio Chacarra says joining Seve Ballesteros and Jon Rahm as a European Number One would “mean the world” as he heads into the DP World Tour Championship with the Harry Vardon Trophy within reach.
Related: McIlroy drawing on DP World Tour Championship experience
The Spaniard holds a 533.93-point lead over Rory McIlroy at the top of the Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World, and while there are nine players in the running for the season-long race, Chacarra knows victory at Jumeirah Golf Estates would secure the title, regardless of his rivals’ results.
View this post on Instagram
The only three-time winner this season, Chacarra’s recent victory at the DP World India Championship saw him move to the top of the standings and put him in a position to join Ballesteros and Rahm – also in the running for the title – as only the third player from Spain to finish the season as DP World Tour Number One.
Chacarra has had a season to remember, recording victories at the KLM Open and DS Automobiles 83° Open d’Italia in June before adding his third title in Delhi earlier this month. But it is his consistency beyond those wins that has helped his rise to the top of the Rankings.
Making his 31st start of the season – second in starts only to Angel Ayora – Chacarra has notched up five other top tens across his year, including a runner-up finish in his title defence at the Hero Indian Open and a tie for second at the Open de España presented by Madrid.
He set out at the start of the year with lofty goals and an appreciation of a big schedule, and now heads into the final event with the chance to become the first player this century to win the Race to Dubai having only played one of the four Major championships.
To win the Race to Dubai, Chacarra will have to fend off challenges from a host of players, including Rory McIlroy, who is seeking to match Colin Montgomerie’s tally of eight Race to Dubai titles and secure his fifth consecutive season at the top of the pile.
View this post on Instagram
Although McIlroy will need to finish a minimum of fourth around the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates, Chacarra acknowledges that McIlroy’s record means it won’t be an easy test, but is hopeful he has learned a few lessons from playing alongside the six-time Major champion last week.
Player quotes
Eugenio Chacarra: Yeah it would mean the world to put my name where Seve’s and Jon is, two of the best players of all time, will be really special.
Yeah, just coming with a chance to be able to win it this week is something very special. There is a lot of great talent in Spain and a lot of great players on this tour from Spain. That tells you how tough it is and how good you need to play.
View this post on Instagram
I didn’t play three of the four Majors, so I come with a little less advantage than the other European guys. I’m happy I have a chance to go win and go win it on the course. We are playing for a lot, and there’s a lot of things that can happen. That tells you how good the play is and how much I’ve been on the leaderboard.
And it’s not only three wins: I have a couple of seconds and a couple of thirds and a couple of fourths. I’ve been in contention on Sundays and that’s what I work on every single day, is to have a chance to win on Sunday.
We knew winning this year was going to take a lot of tournaments. I really wanted to get that PGA Tour card before next year… for that, I was going to need to play as much as possible, because you have more chances if you play more.
So we knew that at the start of of the season. We did a great pre-season. I got a couple of new guys on my team that really helped me. I’ve got a really nice doctor and nutritionist and physio and workout guy that’s been great for me. Before, I couldn’t play more than three weeks, and this year, I had a stretch I played seven weeks; and on the seventh week I had a chance to win in France. Just to feel my body was good to compete, it makes me relaxed and it makes me trust the guys that I have on my team.
I’m really proud of the position I am in. I believe in myself, when I started the season I said I wanted to win a couple of times and I got done early in the season and to keep winning and have good weeks, it’s really nice. One of the goals was to finish the year in the top 50 in the world, and looks like I already have that and I’ll be teeing it up in Augusta next year, and that will be a dream that I really wanted to do in my professional career. It’s not an easy task to do.
I’m excited to see where my golf takes me, but like I said, all I can control is to keep working hard and to keep doing the things that I’m doing, that’s definitely working.
