Jason Scrivener was delighted to see his hard work pay off as he sealed a career best European Tour finish at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
It has been a long road to getting established for the Australian, who narrowly lost his card in his rookie season in 2015 before regaining it at the Qualifying School and then found himself in a battle at the wrong end of the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex in 2016 and 2017.
He comfortably kept his playing privileges in 2018 and then finished 32nd in the season long standings in 2019, helped by top tens in the final two Rolex Series events of the season.
After not hitting those heights in the 2020 season affected by coronavirus, he enlisted the help of performance coach Dave Alred, who has previously worked with former World Number One Luke Donald and Major Champions Padraig Harrington and Francesco Molinari.
That work looks to be paying off after an incredible back nine of 29 on day four at Abu Dhabi Golf Club saw Scrivener finish second to Tyrrell Hatton, and the 31-year-old was quick to praise Alred.
"He's been a game changer for me," he said. "Really taught me, we sat down probably two months before Christmas at the end of my season last year and he's really helped me a lot and pushed me that bit extra to work harder."
Working with @ScrivJ Looking at displacing negative avoidance with the smallest possible target in the mind’s eye even though focused on the dimple @adidasUK @TaylorMadeTour @TaylorMadeGolf @DairMagazine pic.twitter.com/aUEgCwn2PP
— Dr Dave Alred MBE (@dave_alred) December 23, 2020
Scrivener was back in the pack when he turned in 37 on Sunday but he then eagled the tenth and made gains on the 12th, 14th, 15th, 16th and last to sign for a 66 and catapult himself up the leaderboard.
"I was in my own little world," he said. "My caddie and I just kind of kept plodding away.
"Wasn't a good start, made a few soft bogeys and then just kind of stuck with it and, yeah, 29 on the back, which was pretty nice."
