In his scrap for DP World Tour survival, David Law certainly has the stomach for the fight.
“I started off in a Mexican restaurant but after the starter I wasn’t that keen on it, so I jumped into the Indian for a chicken tikka,” reported the Aberdonian of his pre-tournament feast ahead of the Genesis Championship in South Korea. “I’m well fed.”
It’s not just an army that marches on its belly. Golfers tend to consume the kind of vast quantities that would sustain Napoleon’s legions.
In the far east this week, Law is preparing to plunge into battle one last time as he looks to safeguard his full playing privileges in the final regular event of the 2024 season.
For those hovering in or around 114th place on the Race to Dubai rankings – that’s the current card-retaining safety zone – the tension will be so great, the greenkeepers at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club will probably have to blast nibbled fingernails off the putting surfaces with a leaf blower.
Law, at 130th on the order of merit, needs a good week to preserve his place at the top table. Without a top-10 all season, the 33-year-old could do with throwing one in here in the last chance saloon.
“I’ve never been in this position before and I don’t want to be in it again,” said Law, who has enjoyed six unbroken campaigns on the main circuit.
“It’s very uncomfortable. You look at the rankings in the summer and you sometimes think, ‘I’ll be ok by the end of the season’. Before you know it, events are running out and, lo and behold, you’re not ok.
“Whatever happens, I’m looking forward to next week because it will all be over. There will be a release and there will be clarity. The feeling of not knowing is a big part of the pressure.”
Having made the cut in his last four events – he missed 13 of his first 20 – Law has travelled to South Korea in decent fettle.
“I’ve chipped away to give myself hope,” he added. “This is my seventh week in a row. That’s probably four more than I’d usually do but the situation I’m in has forced me to play more. Next week, I will crash and burn but just now I feel fresh and motivated.”
As ever in this game, there are what ifs and if onlys. At the start of October, Law was just one shot off the halfway lead in the hugely lucrative Dunhill Links Championship and was on course to seal his card with a meaty cheque. A weekend of toil, though, saw him slither down into 64th.
“I didn’t play well at all in the third round,” he reflected of a week on home soil that promised so much. “When you’re right in the mix and have a day that knocks you out, it’s hard to get going again on the Sunday.”
Law enjoyed his best season on the tour in 2022 when he finished 49th on the rankings. You can’t afford to rest on your laurels at this level but Law’s pursuit of more distance to keep pace with the big hitters would, ultimately, leave him wheezing behind.
“Coming off the back of my best season, I was thinking, ‘how do I get better?’,” he said. “I made the decision to try to find a bit more length off the tee and I regret it now. Last season was nowhere near as good as I hoped, and this one has been worse.
“Changing what I was doing with the driver affected my iron play. That was my strength, but it became a weakness. I became too shallow with my irons and struggled to control my distance.
“I went from something like 60th in strokes gained off the tee to 15th but my iron play saw me drop from 35th to 140th. The reason I’m good at golf is my approach play. When you lose that, the game becomes very difficult.
“There’s always a risk involved when you change things and, yes, I regret it now. I was doing it to become a better player, but it didn’t work out. It’s slowly coming back to what it was two years ago, though.”
Law is now hoping it will all click in his last push for salvation. A few of his pals in peril are looking for a final flourish too.
“I have good friends in the same position,” he said. “We’re all in the same boat. Some will make it, others won’t. Fingers crossed that I do.”
