Tuesday 15 November 2016 13:43, UK
Danny Willett described his 2016 as both "amazing" and "turbulent" as he bids to return to winning ways at the DP World Tour Championship.
Willett has endured a poor run of form since his disappointing Ryder Cup debut at Hazeltine, although he can take confidence from a positive weekend performance at last week's Nedbank Golf Challenge.
The Masters champion shot 67 and 69 over the final two days in South Africa to remain within striking distance of Race to Dubai leader Henrik Stenson heading into the season-ending event at the Jumeirah Golf Estates.
The Swede has a commanding lead of almost 300,000 points over Willett, although the Sheffield star can be crowned European No 1 for the first time with a top-four finish in Dubai.
Willett will snatch the overall title with a win, while a top-four finish for Willett would also be good enough if Stenson is outside the top 30 and Alex Noren does not win.
"It's been a very turbulent year and we've had the ultimate of highs and a few real lows the last few months," said Willett, who was denied the Race to Dubai title last year when Rory McIlroy won the season finale. "We've got four rounds of golf left in what's been a pretty long season.
"It's a slightly different situation to last year, but we still need to win the golf tournament to win The Race to Dubai. I'm 300,000 points behind Henrik, but if we can control this week and win, then nobody can take it way from us. It's a nice situation to be in, hoping for other people to finish outside of the top five, top 10. It could be an exciting week.
"I've got a little bit more confidence after the last couple of rounds last week. It was nice to get a few nice rounds under par and get some good feelings back there, but this is a golf course that doesn't necessarily suit me as much as it does the other guys.
"But if we can get it in play off the tee then it definitely suits good mid-iron play which is one of our strengths, and good putting. I'm looking forward to what could be a very nice end to what's been a very up year I guess.
"If we can somehow topple Henrik, that would be fantastic. If we don't, so be it. I think potentially at the end of the season it may be easier to be sat here chasing someone down this week than potentially trying to hold onto a lead."
Willett shocked the golfing world with his maiden major victory at Augusta National in April, but his poor run of results in recent weeks has taken the gloss off his season.
He was also the focus of unwanted attention during the Ryder Cup when his brother, Pete, wrote a controversial magazine article featuring a number of derogatory remarks towards American fans.
Willett lost all three of his matches at Hazeltine before missing the cut at the following week's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, and he finished 75th and 68th respectively in China and Turkey as he was replaced at the top of the Race to Dubai by Stenson.
"We've had an amazing year, if you look at it as a whole, but I don't think you can expect to ever go through a full year and not have any downs in there," he added. "It's just been a shame that the lows in the year I guess have come when they have.
"But I guess if we're sat here Sunday night and you've had a great week and things have gone your way; not that I'll not be able to reflect on it as a fantastic year anyway, but you'll be able to reflect on it as a slightly better year I guess.
"At the end of the day, I'd love to finish first on the Race to Dubai at least once in my life. If I were to finish second for the rest of my life, it's not that you're playing bad golf, you've had a massively consistent year. To be able to finish No 1 from how good the fields are these days, I think it's a very difficult task.
"I'm fortunate to be in a position where I've actually got the chance to do that."
