Conor Purcell admits that this week’s DP World India Championship could be his last start of his rookie DP World Tour season as he enters last chance saloon in a bid to retain his full playing rights for next year.
Purcell enters the week 148th in the Race to Dubai and faces an uphill battle to break into the top-115 as he is currently not in the field for the Genesis Championship in Korea next week – the last regular event of the season before the playoffs.
It looked like the Portmarnock man had found form at the right time at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, but a Thursday 81 in Spain last week coupled with a withdrawal due to thumb pain looked to have potentially been the final nail in the coffin but he confirmed that it was only a precautionary measure.
“I get a sore thumb sometimes. My left hand tends to get a bit weak on the club and if I have done a lot of practice it can get sore. Last week it just got to the point where I couldn’t continue,” said Purcell who needs a top-10 to get into next week’s event.
“A couple of days rest and taking the start of this week early hopefully we can be ready to go come Thursday in India.”
Purcell has missed thirteen cuts this season, including three in a row before the Dunhill where he shared 32nd place which just halted his progress as he had made four cuts on the spin as part of the European swing.
The 28-year-old is confident that if this week is his last start of his rookie DP World Tour campaign that he can end it on a high and whether that’s enough to prolong the season one more week, great. If not, he will head to Q-School next month bullish about the state of his game.
“Been playing nicely the last few weeks. Had a nice week at the Dunhill, I was a bit frustrated that it was reduced to three rounds because I felt that the game was in a pretty good spot and I had a good chance for a high finish that week after starting really well.
“This year has been tricky results wise this year, it hasn’t been what I wanted coming to the end of the year and it’s crunch time. This potentially might be my last start so try to make the most of this week and if not I’ll head to Q-School and go from there.
“This year has been a lot of learning, getting used to new courses but I have enjoyed it as a whole.”
