Victor Perez conceded to have watched back Sunday's bunker shot “a lot”, and you could not blame him.
It came on the penultimate hole at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, when Perez led the Rolex Series event by one and had found the sand off the tee on Yas Links' final par 3.
The Frenchman promptly holed his second, though, going on to seal the greatest win of his career thus far.
“Any time someone is going talk about Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship 2023, [they’ll say] ‘remember he holed that bunker shot.’” Perez said on Tuesday. “I've seen it plenty of times now.”
Such is professional golf, however, that time moves on in a flash. Two days from his capital crowning, Perez was up the road at Emirates Golf Club, preparing for this week’s Hero Dubai Desert Classic.
Understandably, there hasn’t been much rest and recuperation in between, with Perez admitting he didn’t really get any sleep on Sunday night.
At least, then, there’s another $9 million Rolex Series event to get the juices flowing again. And, with world No 1 Rory McIlroy in the field and seeking a third Dallah trophy, there’s no room for slacking.
“It's going to be challenging balancing that because you don't want to feel entitled,” Perez said. “You don't want to feel like, ‘Oh, I've won, so now I can relax’.
“You want to use the win as, ‘Now I can build on to the win’, but you definitely don't want to start getting a little complacent – 'I can get away with this practice’ or ‘I don't have to do these little things’.
“Everybody is too good now. The margins are so small. There's not much time to sleep and start thinking you can get away with it.”
It helps that he has played well on the Majlis course, with a tied-16th in 2020 and a T29 the previous year.
“Obviously it's such an iconic event,” Perez said. “The course has changed a little bit, but definitely a place that everybody enjoys coming to and tries to perform.
“I had some good results. I've had a terrible Sunday a couple years back where I shot 79 with a chance to win. We'll see.”
What is graphene?
Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
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The biog
Name: Greg Heinricks
From: Alberta, western Canada
Record fish: 56kg sailfish
Member of: International Game Fish Association
Company: Arabian Divers and Sportfishing Charters
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Is it worth it? We put cheesecake frap to the test.
The verdict from the nutritionists is damning. But does a cheesecake frappuccino taste good enough to merit the indulgence?
My advice is to only go there if you have unusually sweet tooth. I like my puddings, but this was a bit much even for me. The first hit is a winner, but it's downhill, slowly, from there. Each sip is a little less satisfying than the last, and maybe it was just all that sugar, but it isn't long before the rush is replaced by a creeping remorse. And half of the thing is still left.
The caramel version is far superior to the blueberry, too. If someone put a full caramel cheesecake through a liquidiser and scooped out the contents, it would probably taste something like this. Blueberry, on the other hand, has more of an artificial taste. It's like someone has tried to invent this drink in a lab, and while early results were promising, they're still in the testing phase. It isn't terrible, but something isn't quite right either.
So if you want an experience, go for a small, and opt for the caramel. But if you want a cheesecake, it's probably more satisfying, and not quite as unhealthy, to just order the real thing.
If you go:
The flights: Etihad, Emirates, British Airways and Virgin all fly from the UAE to London from Dh2,700 return, including taxes
The tours: The Tour for Muggles usually runs several times a day, lasts about two-and-a-half hours and costs £14 (Dh67)
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is on now at the Palace Theatre. Tickets need booking significantly in advance
Entrance to the Harry Potter exhibition at the House of MinaLima is free
The hotel: The grand, 1909-built Strand Palace Hotel is in a handy location near the Theatre District and several of the key Harry Potter filming and inspiration sites. The family rooms are spacious, with sofa beds that can accommodate children, and wooden shutters that keep out the light at night. Rooms cost from £170 (Dh808).
