ABU DHABI ALDAR GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP

November 3, 2026

Eugenio Chacarra

Yas Links

Quotes

Q. You took a well-earn rest last week, having played 10 tournaments in 11 weeks. What were you up to? Did you rest? Did you practise? How are you?

EUGENIO CHACARRA: A lot of practise, a week at home getting my body ready for the heat of Abu Dhabi and Dubai. A lot of working out and getting some rest, obviously.

But a lot of practise on the golf course. There's going to be enough time to rest after these two finals but I can't rest. I need to keep a good level and have a lot of players coming at me so I need to hopefully have my A Game.

Q. You finished 39th in this championship last year. Does it feel coming in different this time, knowing the golf course and knowing what to expect?

EUGENIO CHACARRA: I'm a completely different player, to be honest with you. I just improved pretty much every part of my game.

So yeah, I feel way different as a player, and the course is playing similar. It's probably in better conditions, even though it was in magnificent condition last year. But yeah, I feel like a completely different player. Even today playing the front nine, shots that I struggled last year; well, this doesn't seem that hard.

I'm excited to see where my game is. Obviously I didn't have good weeks here and in Dubai last year, but I feel like my game is way better than it was and I'm in a better spot than I was, and I'm excited for the competition.

Q. You're at the top of the Race to Dubai, and some wonderful players pursuing you over the next couple of weeks. How do you view that opportunity?

EUGENIO CHACARRA: Yeah, it's a great opportunity. At the start of year, everyone wants to win Race to Dubai, and that's obviously a hard goal to accomplish without playing in America and without playing the majors.

But I always believed in myself. I believe I can win out here a lot and I believe I can be contending, like I did. I'm excited for the opportunity. It's better to start in first than in second. I'll take my position.

But like you said, there's a lot of points to play with. There is tremendous players behind me, so I still need to go out there and perform. And like I said in the press conference, my goal right this week is not to defend my Race to Dubai.

My goal is to go win the tournament, and if I do that, I'm going to have a better chance to win the Race to Dubai. Every time I tee off, I want to win the tournament, and that's what I'm going to try to do this week.

Q. You're playing with Rory for the first time and also Patrick Reed. Your thoughts on that?

EUGENIO CHACARRA: I'm excited. Rory is one of my idols since I grew up, and I watched him so much on TV. So I'm excited to be on the same tee time as him for the first time, and it's going to be really, really fun for me to watch, and just seeing him perform. It's something really unique the way he plays the game of golf.

But I'm also going to focus on myself. I know I can compete with anyone and I know how I'm playing, and I'm just excited to compete with him, to play with him, and to learn as much as possible.