DP WORLD TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

November 12, 2026

Joost Luiten

Jumeirah Golf Estates, Earth Course

Quick Quotes

Q 5-under today, round of 67. How do you reflect on that?

JOOST LUITEN: Yeah, good opening round, had a great front 9, you know, 5-under after 9, and then you hope you can push on. But the wind picked up, and I made two annoying bogeys on 11 and 12, which especially on 11 wasn't really needed. But, you know, it happens in these conditions.

And I'm quite happy finishing 5-under because coming in it's tricky.

Q Yeah, I was going to say, so five birdies on the front nine, only two on the back, so the back nine must be playing -- or why is it playing more difficult?

JOOST LUITEN: Well, the wind picked up, and there's just a couple of really tricky holes on there. Like 12, 15, 16, 17, 18 are just tricky holes into the wind. So, you know, you've got to hit some good shots there and keep it in the fairway.

And, you know, I made two little mistakes, and then all of a sudden you've got two bogeys. But that's this golf course.

Q Birdie on 18, always nice to finish in a positive way.

JOOST LUITEN: Yeah, I mean, again, par-5, straight into the wind, and it was blowing. So I had a good drive, and then, you know, decision, are you going for it or laying up? So I decided to lay up and not take any risk. And then I had a good wedge in to about seven or eight feet and rolled in a nice birdie putt to finish.

Q How nice is it to start so well?

JOOST LUITEN: Yeah, it's nice. I said to my caddie, I said, bro, we can only go up this week, you know? We're last man in, we've got nothing to lose, so let's go for it. And it worked out so far.