Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship: Collin Morikawa over Bahamas ‘frustration’; Tommy Fleetwood on ‘tough’ 2021 | Golf News

Morikawa can move to world No 1 with a victory in Abu Dhabi this week, providing Jon Rahm finishes outside the top-seven on the PGA Tour at the American Express – watch both events live from Thursday on Sky Sports Golf

Collin Morikawa is searching for more success in the Middle East this week

Collin Morikawa insists he has moved on from his Hero World Challenge disappointment as he returns to the DP World Tour with a chance to move to world No 1 at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

Morikawa missed the opportunity to move top of the rankings after failing to convert his five-shot lead during the final round in the Bahamas last month. The two-time major winner finished tied-fifth and claimed the same result at the Sentry Tournament of Champions.

The 24-year-old’s appearance on the DP World Tour is his first since winning the Tour’s Order of Merit last season, with Morikawa able to move to world No 1 with a victory if Jon Rahm finishes worse than tied seventh on the PGA Tour at the American Express tournament in California.

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Nick Dougherty and Andrew Coltart review the best of the action from the final round of the European Tour’s DP World Tour Championship.

“The frustration goes away,” Morikawa said about his Bahamas disappointment. “If I was still frustrated about it, I would not be able to play this tournament to the best of my abilities. I was frustrated for a couple of days or a day, and you get over it and then I’m motivated.

“I get over things pretty easily, and I think for me it’s motivation, right. How do I learn off these bad events and how do I, you know, if I miss a cut or whatever it may be, how do I not have that happen again.

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A look back at the best of the action from a thrilling final round at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, where Collin Morikawa missed out on the world No 1 spot

“But you know, I don’t look at it as highs and lows. I think that’s for me the wrong way of how I put it in my head. For me, it’s just you have a good week, you have a bad week, things happen and that’s what we do. We’re playing half the weeks of the year. There’s going to be some bad days.

“But it’s just about managing how bad it gets and how bad it could get, and obviously what happened at the Bahamas, you know, we talked about that. It wasn’t great. But for me, it’s learning about those things, and making sure I never have those happen again.”

Fleetwood: I found it difficult in 2021

Tommy Fleetwood admitted he didn’t play well enough during a winless 2021 and is keen to put a frustrating year behind him when he begins his season at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

The Englishman struggled for consistency during a difficult campaign, only registering six worldwide top-10s in 26 starts and returning just one point from three matches in Europe’s record-breaking Ryder Cup defeat at Whistling Straits.

Tommy Fleetwood has failed to win since before the Covid-19 pandemic began

Fleetwood is a two-time winner in Abu Dhabi after successfully defending his title in 2018, although the world No 41 comes into the tournament at Yas Links – a new venue for the Rolex Series event – without a victory since the 2019 Nedbank Golf Challenge.

“I didn’t play well enough,” Fleetwood said about last year’s performance. “I was very rarely at a tournament where I felt very confident with my game or where all parts of my game are at. I lacked rhythm throughout the year.

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The top five shots from Tommy Fleetwood’s successful title defence at the 2018 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

“It’s tough, and I think every week you get to a golf tournament, there are players that are making the game look easy and there are players that are really struggling. In simple terms, you want to be one of the guys making it look easy more often than not, and it’s not always like that.

“I think I had a year where I was finding it difficult, like I said, never had my swing. I struggled off the tee, which for me has always been a massive source of confidence and where I’ve broke courses down and built scores in the past.

“I think when I was missing that, I found the game particularly hard. I think when I look back at the year, there was actually parts and areas in my game that were stronger than I thought, which is comforting, and just addressed the areas that I wasn’t as good at.

“The standard is getting higher all the time, and if you sort of drop off, it feels worse than what it is quite a lot and it’s easy to try and search for that, which is the same in all sports. Just search for that magic answer on a daily basis and a weekly basis, and I think if you consistently work on the right things, and you do it well enough, then you’ll get to where you want to be. But last year was tough.”

Watch the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage begins with Featured Groups on Thursday from 3.30am on Sky Sports Golf, ahead of full coverage from 7am.