Daniel Gavins hopes a return to the scene of his dramatic second DP World Tour title can inspire an upturn in his form.
The Englishman overcame finding water twice on the 72nd hole at last year’s Ras Al Khaimah Championship to claim a remarkable victory by holing a double-bogey putt from around 30 feet.
But Gavins, whose maiden DP World Tour win came in Northern Ireland in 2021, has since gone without a top ten and ended last season out of form amid a run of missed cuts.
“(Arriving here) it was a little bit mixed because I’m coming in not feeling overly happy with my game,” he said of his emotions at returning to defend his title.
“But I got back here, played a few holes and I started hitting it quite nicely, so it’s great to be back.”
It’s one of those things with golf, I need to stick with something and work on it and hopefully I’ll start seeing some results.
Despite taking time away from competition golf over the past two months in a bid to work on his game, Gavins has struggled in the opening two events of the year and insists patience is the key.
“It’s a little bit on and off the course, my dad got ill a bit with his prostate cancer and my game dropped off a bit after that,” he added.
“It felt okay and that I was finding something, then I wasn’t finding anything, then I had a nice break over Christmas, found a few things in the swing but came out here and it felt completely different.
“It’s one of those things with golf, I need to stick with something and work on it and hopefully I’ll start seeing some results.”
Gavins closed with an eventful 69 last year that contained eight birdies – including five in a row from the second hole - as well as three bogeys and a double bogey, to win by one shot.
With the memories of his title-winning putt still vivid almost 12 months on, the 32-year-old will hope he can enjoy just as much success on the greens.
“I knew I had a 27-foot putt,” he reflected on his dramatic title-winning moment.
“It was uphill, a nice right-to-left putt and it just went straight in the middle. I was putting well all week, the birdies were flying in.
“When I got on the green I was confident and I managed to roll it in. I’m looking forward to playing here, the course is in good condition again so it’ll be nice to get out there.”
