Jovan Rebula is out to boost his chances of promotion to the DP World Tour when he tees it up at this week’s Hainan Open at Sanya Luhuitou Golf Club.
The South African has impressed in recent weeks on the Road to Mallorca, posting three top 20 finishes in a row including a top five at the GAC Rosa Challenge Tour at Rosa Golf Club in Poland.
Rebula’s form has seen him rise to 21st in the season-long Road to Mallorca Rankings, and with the top 20 earning promotion to the Golf’s Global Tour at the end of the season, the 28-year-old is happy with his position with two events to play before the Rolex Grand Final supported by The R&A.
“I am happy to be where I am right now in the Rankings,” he said.
“I started the season off with no status really. If you had told me at the beginning of the year this is where I’d be right now, I would have taken it.
“Obviously there are more points available this week and I’m looking to take advantage so that the last couple of weeks aren’t too stressful. Pressure is why we play this game and to have an opportunity is amazing.”
Rebula, this week, will experience China for the first time having never visited the country previously. Despite stepping into the relative unknown in Sanya, the South African is relishing the chance to tee it up at a new venue.
“It’s my first time in China; I’m excited,” he added.
“With the status that I had at the start of the season, it’s really cool to be here and I feel privileged to be in this position.
“Obviously, you want to finish inside the top 20 but you must jump the first hurdle, so definitely one of the goals was to be here and obviously try and make it to Mallorca and give myself a chance of a DP World Tour card.
“When it comes to the golf course it’s about seeing how far your ball goes. It’s very humid out here. I’m just trying to really get a feel for the course and get acclimatised. The golf course looks really nice, and it seems like a cool spot.”
Rebula believes his game is in a good spot ahead of the first of back-to-back events in the Middle Kingdom, with the HotelPlanner Tour heading north for the Hangzhou Open next week.
“My game is solid at the moment,” he said.
“I am playing some solid golf and not putting a lot of bogeys on the scorecard. I’ve been managing my game really well and have a good gameplan going into every week.
“I’m looking to play to my strengths and sticking to that throughout the week. Being comfortable on a golf course is important and I’ve been hitting lots of fairways and greens and trying my best to hole a few putts. I’ve been playing to the widest parts of the golf course and I’ve been analysing that the last few weeks.”
Rebula joins a strong field in Sanya which includes Road to Mallorca Number One JC Ritchie, two-time DP World Tour winner James Morrison and current leader of the China Tour’s Order of Merit, Yanhan Zhou.
The opening round of the Hainan Open gets under way on Thursday at 7:05am local time with Rebula teeing off at 7:50am alongside Scotsman Daniel Young and China’s Yan Wei Liu.
