After the real false start in South Africa in November, the French newcomers to the DP World Tour will take their first steps in the elite this Thursday. This is particularly the case of Julien Brun, the best tricolor last year on the Challenge Tour, who is discovering a new environment and will rub shoulders with some of the best players in the world this week.
Before this first Rolex Series of the year, which is also your first tournament on the DP World Tour in 2022, what state of mind are you in?
I feel good. I’m excited at the idea of starting the season with such a great tournament. The course (Yas Links) is really fun to play, it is in great condition. There are big players in the field. We are in an atmosphere of a very big tournament. So it’s very nice to be part of it. It’s a great opportunity.
What did you do during the winter break?
This break allowed me to take time, to do something else, to put the batteries back down. This truce has also done me a lot of good mentally. Physically, I don’t know if it was as beneficial (laughs). But yes, of course… I’m leaving with fresher ideas, with this desire to play, to train. It’s a blessing in disguise somewhere.
How did you experience this wait before finally being able to enter the field of this Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship?
We knew what to expect. The year kicks off with two of the four biggest regular season tournaments. At this time of year, these are often small fields. We knew it was going to be difficult to get back.
In the end, it went pretty well. I returned on Sunday. I was able to do a normal preparation. The fact of having finished 4th in the ranking last year (of the Road to Mallorca) served me well. It’s one more opportunity.
For Dubai (January 27-30), it will be more difficult (to return). We will see how this will evolve. But if it doesn’t, so be it. There are still many tournaments behind. And then there is no re-ranking planned. At least for my category (14). This one (the first 20 of the Challenge Tour 2021) does not change this year. Unless you win, of course.
The PRAHA team: Julien Brun and his younger brother Basile Dalberto. The two men live in Prague photo ©DR
Your friend Paul Barjon told us the same thing last week, aim for a quick win to open the doors wider. Is this your goal?
Succeeding in winning one, even a small tournament, in any case a less popular tournament, changes a lot of things. It is clearly a goal that can significantly facilitate the season and the career plan. So yes we are thinking about it.
What difference could you make between the Challenge Tour and the DP World Tour today?
The middle level is much stronger. The 100th in the European Tour is definitely better than the 100th in the Challenge Tour, that’s undeniable.
This is what makes tournaments more difficult in the end. There are also top players. But if we perform well on the Challenge Tour, having the same level of play, there is no reason for it to go less well on the European Tour. The routes and the preparations for the routes will be more demanding, that’s obvious.
But it’s true that the conditions are much better to do your job as well as possible, and to progress. This week, the state of the course, just around the greens, it makes progress. Here, it’s still quite demanding, casually, on the long game because the greens are very tortuous. So you have to be precise.
There will also be wind. I repeat, it is a fun course to play. But basically, the rule in golf is 18 holes… There’s no reason to change it. If it works on the Challenge Tour, it should work here.
A word about your collaboration with your caddy, Basile Dalberto?
He has the experience, he feels good in this environment, he knows all the players. On the other hand, he does not know the course this week. It is one of the only ones with that of Ras al Khaimah that he does not know. But in any case, he knows how it works.
It allows me to be a little more comfortable. We are not both discovering. He steers me a little here and there. His experience is very interesting to me. He is someone on whom I will be able to lean on, and ask him a lot of things if necessary.
This week, it allows me to be better framed, not to look right and left. So that’s great. I think his help will be even more useful when we play courses he knows.
