From his debut in 2000 to now making his 17th consecutive appearance, Darren Fichardt has played at the Qatar Masters for almost half of his life.
This week the South African, who won the title in 2003, makes his 23rd start at the tournament.
Much has changed since his play-off triumph over countryman James Kingston. His shock of blonde hair is no more for one.
But, in all the years that have passed, his enthusiasm to compete has not dimmed - even now at the age of 50. Nor the memories of his victory at Doha Golf Club 23 years ago.
In capturing the Mother of Pearl Trophy, he claimed his second DP World Tour title after missing out on adding to his breakthrough win at the 2001 Sao Paolo Brazil Open in a play-off loss at the Irish Open a year later.
"It was very important. A big surprise, but it was obviously awesome," Fichardt told the DP World Tour.
Having produced a strong finish in regulation, he birdied the par-five 18th in the first hole of the play-off to seal victory at the end of a week impacted by strong winds.
Already by then a popular stop on his schedule, his affection for the long-standing tournament has only grown.
"From my first time out here, I think it was 2000, I came out here and there is such a huge South African population, so we’d have South African braais on the Tuesday," he said.
"There’s a huge community and a lot of support, obviously. What’s special about this place all those years ago is there was one hotel. Everything else was desert. It has developed quite a lot since then."
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A winner of five DP World Tour titles, Fichardt came close to winning the Qatar Masters for a second time in 2021, losing out by one shot to Antoine Rozner at Education City Golf Club.
After losing his DP World Tour card at the end of the 2022 season at the age of 47, Fichardt contemplated sitting out his final few years in his 40s.
But that all changed when he won on the HotelPlanner Tour at the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge in France in July 2023.
While Fichardt was unable to do enough to regain his playing privileges through the HotelPlanner Tour, he did pick up his card through the DP World Tour Qualifying School and he has since comfortably retained it the last couple of seasons.
And over the last 12 months he has begun to adjust to forging a schedule that combines playing opportunities on both the DP World Tour, Legends Tour and the PGA TOUR Champions.
"Last year, I didn't actually play a lot of [DP World Tour] events at all because I turned 50 so I decided to play the seniors stuff," he said. "Absolutely loved it."
Since transitioning into also competing on the 50-and-over circuits, Fichardt has already enjoyed succcess - winning his first Legends Tour title in Cambodia in November.
But while the senior game is clearly a place he can continue to do well, a top five at the BMW PGA Championship in the Rolex Series proves he can still challenge at the top of the DP World Tour.
While claiming a sixth DP World Tour title, and first since the Joburg Open in 2017, may prove too much of a challenge, Fichardt is determined to give himself every opportunity.
After this week, a third consecutive appearance on the DP World Tour in the Middle East, he intends to head back home to play the Investec South African Open Championship and Joburg Open.
From there, events in the seniors game are pencilled in, before returning to the DP World Tour later in the season. In his own words, he'll take it "week by week".
"Obviously, winning will sort out a few problems," he said. "You never know with this game so I will play it by ear. I played 30 events and it was absolutely exhausting.
"If I am playing any event, I am going to do my best.
"Wherever I am that week is where I am going to be. It is a lot more difficult than it was. A lot more effort, a lot more work you have to put in to compete with these youngsters.
"The kids are hitting it 100 yards past me now so it’s a lot more trickier. But it’s also good because it’s more challenging. Put myself to the test and see what I can do and see how I can compete with them."
