Eugenio Chacarra says joining Seve Ballesteros and Jon Rahm as a European Number One would “mean the world” as he heads into the DP World Tour Championship with a comfortable lead and the Harry Vardon Trophy within reach.
The Spaniard holds a 533.93-point lead over Rory McIlroy at the top of the Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World, and while there are nine players in the running for the season-long race, Chacarra knows victory at Jumeirah Golf Estates would secure the season-long title, regardless of his rivals’ results.
The only three-time winner this season, Chacarra's recent victory at the DP World Tour India Championship saw him move to the top of the standings and put him in position to join Ballesteros and Rahm - also in the running for the title - as only the third player from Spain to finish the season as DP World Tour Number One.
“Yeah it would mean the world to put my name where Seve's and Jon is, two of the best players of all time, will be really special,” he said.
"Yeah, just coming with a chance to be able to win it this week is something very special. I mean, only me and Jon has a chance to win it this week, and there is a lot of great talent in Spain and a lot of great players on this tour from Spain. That tells you how tough it is and how good you need to play.
"I didn't play three of the four Majors, so I come with a little less advantage than the other European guys. I'm happy I have a chance to go win and go win it on the course. We are playing for a lot, and there's a lot of things that can happen."
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Chacarra has had a season to remember, recording victories at the KLM Open and DS Automobiles 83° Open d’Italia in June before adding his third title in Delhi earlier this month. But it is his consistency beyond those wins that has helped put the Harry Vardon Trophy within reach.
Making his 31st start of the season - second in starts only behind Angel Ayora - Chacarra has notched up five other top tens across his year, including a runner-up finish in his title defence at the Hero Indian Open and a tie for second at the Open de España presented by Madrid.
He set out the year with lofty goals and an appreciation of a big schedule, and now heads into the final event with the chance to become the first player this century to win the Race to Dubai having only played one of the four Major championships.
"That tells you how good the play is and how much I've been on the leaderboard," he said of his season.
"And it's not only three wins: I have a couple of seconds and a couple of thirds and a couple of fourths. I've been in contention on Sundays and that's what I work on every single day, is to have a chance to win on Sunday.
"We knew winning this year was going to take a lot of tournaments. I really wanted to get that PGA Tour card before next year... for that, I was going to need to play as much as possible, because you have more chances if you play more.
"So we knew that at the start of of the season. We did a great pre-season. I got a couple of new guys on my team that really helped me. I've got a really nice doctor and nutritionist and physio and workout guy that's been great for me. Before, I couldn't play more than three weeks, and this year, I had a stretch I played seven weeks; and on the seventh week I had a chance to win in France. Just to feel my body was good to compete, it makes me relaxed and it makes me trust the guys that I have on my team.
"I'm really proud of the position I am in. I believe in myself, when I started the season I said I wanted to win a couple of times and I got done early in the season and to keep winning and have good weeks, it's really nice. One of the goals was to finish the year in the top 50 in the world, and looks like I already have that and I'll be teeing it up in Augusta next year, and that will be a dream that I really wanted to do in my professional career. It's not an easy task to do.
"I'm excited to see where my golf takes me, but like I said, all I can control is to keep working hard and to keep doing the things that I'm doing, that's definitely working."
To win the Race to Dubai, Chacarra will have to fend off challenges from a host of players that include Rory McIlroy, who is seeking to match Colin Montgomerie's tally of eight Race to Dubai titles and his fifth consecutive season at the top of the pile.
Although McIlroy will need to finish a minimum of fourth around the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates, Chacarra still acknowledges his record means it won't be an easy test, but is hopeful he has learned a few lessons from playing alongside the six-time Major champion last week.
"Obviously we know how good Rory McIlroy is, and he's one of my idols," he said. "It's going to be a tough test, and that's what I dreamed of since I was little. But I already beat him in India. So I need to remind myself that I can compete with him and I can beat him like I did already a couple of weeks ago.
"So I'm just going to go out there... obviously this is a course that he's had a lot of success and I only played once and didn't do very good. They are just numbers. This is golf and crazy things happen. I'm just going to enjoy myself, and if I bring my A Game, I'm going to be able to compete with him on Sunday.
"I think it really helped to for me to play with him last week to be honest. I made a lot of mistakes that I probably shouldn't have done, but it was the first time playing with him.
"So that's going to help me a lot. I learned from it. I had a great talk with my team after that first round. And I didn't feel it at the moment, but it's really hard to just get into the bubble and start thinking about his game instead of focusing on what you have to control.
"It helped playing last week, it really helped me to see what I can do and what I shouldn't do, and I think I'm more prepared this week to go tee it up tomorrow and just focus on my game and that's what I can control."
