Home favourite Justin Rose is enjoying the challenge of staying competitive as he prepares to play in his 20th BMW PGA Championship this week.
The Englishman has recorded five top-ten finishes at this event since making his debut in 2001, and with his game in fine shape, he will be hoping for another strong performance on his landmark appearance this week.
Last month World Number 12 Rose beat J.J. Spaun in a thrilling play-off to win the FedEx St. Jude Championship and claim his 12th PGA TOUR title, while he narrowly missed out at The Masters earlier in the year, losing to Rory McIlroy in a play-off at the climax of a dramatic final round.
And the 45-year-old, who will play alongside Ryder Cup team-mate Tommy Fleetwood and defending champion Billy Horschel in the first two rounds of the third Rolex Series event of the season, is relishing testing himself against the world's best.
He said: "It's nice when you lose count! Obviously 20 is a decent number to have played.
"Often I look at guys' careers and I think just to sort of stay fit, willing and able for that long is sometimes impressive. But yeah, time flies. I guess time flies when you're having fun.
"That's probably the most important thing - I'm still very much enjoying my game, my golf and the opportunity to get better, to keep pushing to get better.
"But yeah, I think I'm still playing not to just rack up numbers and rack up sort of sticking around for as long as I can, but to actually be competitive and I'm enjoying that challenge right now.
"The level of consistency that some players are playing at is phenomenal. So it's hard, for sure.
"I think all areas of my game have probably been taken care of and been a priority for me in some ways.
"But of course, I think as you get older, the skills are there but the access to them becomes harder, if that makes any sense.
"You've got to fight a little bit harder on the diligence side of things.
"I feel like (I'm) even more disciplined now than I was when I was younger. I'd love to be indulging in a few more fun activities at this point in my life but I feel like I'm having to be even more focused, and that needs to be underpinned by love for the game.
"If you don't love the game, it becomes work and it still doesn't feel like work. I think that's how I'm able to keep doing the work that's required to keep being able to compete.
"You need that little bit of belief, I guess. I've had that in fits and starts over the last couple of years. Rome in 2023, I felt like I could step up on the big stage and play.
"I feel like Troon was important, and The Masters, I was in a play-off but I felt like there was a lot of good to take out of that. So there's been enough, even though I haven't been winning regularly there have been some moments that have kept me believing that the work is worth it."
