Robert MacIntyre is fully focused on claiming a first European Tour win as he makes his debut appearance at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic this week.
The Scot is making his first appearance on the 2020 Race to Dubai after a stellar 2019 that saw him finish 11th in the Rankings and win the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Award.
He achieved all that despite struggling with a wrist injury since the summer, a problem that saw him withdraw from last week's Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA.
MacIntyre revealed that his withdrawal came not because he was unable to play but because he would not have been able to win, and the ambitious 23-year-old is not willing to fill out fields.
"If I can't compete I won't play, there's no point," he said. "I'm not here just to make up the numbers.
"If I played last week, I was there, I was going to finish close to last, it's just as simple as that. I couldn't compete. Whereas this week, I feel that I can go out there and give it enough go.
"I just needed more time. I felt last week my speed was down, hitting bad shots I wouldn't normally hit and this week I feel my speed's back.
"My big test was hitting shots that were hurting me. I had done that on Monday night, Tuesday morning. - hit the shots that were hurting me on the chipping green - and the real test was going to go in the rough.
"I had to test it. If it hurt, I wasn't going to play and I just had to accept it. I just had to go for it. So I went in the deep end, just hit it. It's been grand.
"If the pain comes back, then we've got a problem. We've got to go and look into it deeper and still looking into it deeper, whether it's technique or whatnot.
"But I can't worry about if I go here this week and worry about a sore hand, which could happen, then I'm as well back home in Oban and sitting on the couch.
"I'm just going out there, playing golf full throttle as I normally do and see how we're going."
If I can't compete I won't play, there's no point. I'm not here just to make up the numbers
MacIntyre did not play this event last season as he was not exempt but he does not have those worries anymore and is relishing the test of Emirates Golf Club.
"It's an absolute brutal test," he said. "You've got to keep the ball in the fairway. If you don't, you'll probably be home early.
"It's a pretty fair test. If you drive it well, if you play well, you score well.
"It's as thick rough as I've played in since probably US Amateur at Oakland Hills. That rough out there, if there's not a ball spotter spotting the ball and you're 300 yards away, you're struggling to find it."
Should MacIntyre pass his brutal test he will move up from his current position of 67th on the Official World Golf Ranking, with his aim getting into the top 50 and an invite to the Masters Tournament.
"I've not looked further than April if I'm being honest with you," he said. "I've just got one goal - top 50 in the world by April - and if I do that, then I think my start of the season would have been as good as the end of last."
