Antoine Rozner was delighted to be back where it "all started" as he prepared to defend his title at the 2021 AVIV Dubai Championship.
The Frenchman burst onto the scene in 2019, winning in back to back weeks on the European Challenge Tour en route to graduating onto the 2020 Race to Dubai.
He claimed his maiden title over the Fire Course here at Jumeirah Golf Estates but has not rested on his laurels, winning the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, sealing a famous victory over Major Champion Bryson DeChambeau at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play and competing in the Olympic Men's Golf Competition in 2021.
He has not recorded a worldwide top ten since his victory in Qatar but is feeling good back on a happy hunting ground.
"It’s great to be back," he said. "I have a lot of happy memories here and it’s a great place, great to be in Dubai and I’m very happy to play on this course again.
"It pretty much all started here. Last year I was having a great season and to win here was just a really nice way to finish the season.
"After that, everything started really well for me. I had another win in Qatar just two months later, I went to America, played great, and everything pretty much all started here.
"I gained a lot of experience and a lot of maturity on the course. I think my game is great as well. I’ll definitely use the experience I gained from last year, as far as being really aggressive on this course, because there will be low scores.
"Winning is not easy but when you’ve got it done once, and for me twice, it’s just a completely different feeling. You know how to win and it will help me a lot for the rest of my career.
"I went to the Olympics, I took a few weeks completely off golf, I needed that, I needed to break down the season and I think it was good.
It’s just a completely different feeling. You know how to win and it will help me a lot for the rest of my career
"I lost a bit of momentum during that holiday but I’m playing the same game, I just think a few putts here and there couldn’t drop after that. I’m not playing bad because I’m making most of the cuts, but being in contention is not easy.
"You need to be in good form and I think if I can find some momentum around the greens and some scoring here and there then I can be in contention really soon again."
Rozner's third full season on the European Tour will be on the DP World Tour, with a new era being ushered in in 2022, and the 28-year-old counts himself lucky to be part of it.
"It’s very exciting and I think our Tour is getting bigger and bigger," he said.
"The support we have from DP World is amazing and I think we’re very lucky as players to be players on this Tour for the next few years and hopefully as long as possible. We’re very lucky as players to live in this moment."
