Tyrrell Hatton says his rise to fifth in the world rankings on the back of winning the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship is “surreal”.
The 29-year-old Englishman cruised to success at the National Course by four strokes, having started the final round a shot behind his playing partner Rory McIlroy.
The win sent him up to his highest career ranking, with just Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas and Collin Morikawa above him.
Ahead of his return to the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, Hatton said it felt odd to be in such vaunted company.
“I don’t see myself as anything special,” Hatton said, after completing the Pro-Am at Emirates Golf Club on Tuesday.
“I’m just going about my business, doing my own thing. That’s just the way I am, I guess.
“I wouldn’t say I’m uncomfortable with the position I’m in, I just don’t see myself as anything different. It’s not something that I really worry about.
“I’m just trying to play good golf and the world rankings take care of themselves if you’re able to do that. Fortunately for me, the last 14 months, I’ve been on a really good run and I’m hoping that continues.”
Hatton has won four of the last 20 tournaments he has entered worldwide. After coming off the course in the capital on Sunday, he said his title win had not sunk in as yet. Two days on, he confirmed it still hadn’t.
“The win last week still feels a little bit surreal, alongside with where we’ve moved up to in the world rankings,” he said.
“It doesn’t feel like it was me who won the tournament. Now I’m looking forward to this week.
“It’s nice to be back here in Dubai. I missed the event last year because I was still recovering from wrist surgery. I’ve had some good finishes in the past and I’m hoping I can have another good week.”
He is not the only one who has been away from the Classic for some time. Justin Rose is also returning, although his Majlis Course hiatus has been far longer.
“It was 2009 when I last played, that was Rory’s first win,” Rose said, ahead of his return.
“I finished second, and I only remembered that when I saw [McIlroy’s] face up there as a winner. I’m glad I could help him along his way.
“The golf course has come back to me, I had my old yardage book. It’s changed a little bit, the greens have gotten a bit smaller through the years.
“Strategy-wise it probably makes the middle of the green the acceptable play on a lot of holes.”
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Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
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Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
