Nicolai Højgaard is determined to keep his season alive at this week's Genesis Championship and earn the right to defend his DP World Tour Championship title.
The Dane won his first Rolex Series crown at Jumeirah Golf Estates last November but nearly 12 months on is fighting to make the DP World Tour Play-Offs and potentially tee it up again at the season finale.
The top 70 players on the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex after this week's event at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club will head to the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, with the top 50 after that advancing to play at the Earth Course.
A top ten at the Dubai Desert Classic in January gave Højgaard a strong platform for the season but when he missed the cut at the Amgen Irish Open, he slipped out of the top 70 and was 85th after the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
Back-to-back top 20s have now edged him up to 78th and he arrives in South Korea excited about the prospect of seeing a new country and fighting his way back into the Play-Off places.
"I'm really looking forward to it," he said. "It's my fourth week in a row now, building on some good form in the last few weeks. I'm excited to be in Korea.
"I'm excited to get going, I feel like the game is trending and it's always exciting getting to a new place you haven't been before, a new country. So hopefully we'll have a good week.
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"One of the reasons I'm playing a lot at the moment, I want to get myself to Dubai and try and defend my title.
"I've played a lot this year and I feel like I can feel it in my body but I'm very motivated and I just really want to get to Dubai.
"We're going to give it a go this week and do our best and hopefully that will be enough to play the last two events."
Højgaard has had Dual Membership with the PGA TOUR this season, finishing second at the Farmers Insurance Open, and he feels it has been a learning experience as he aims for a second Ryder Cup appearance in 2025.
"I wouldn't say it's been a terrible year but a learning year," he said. "I feel like I've played a lot of good golf but it's been like a nearly year. I just haven't got it over the line and put four rounds together.
"I've been up there a few times and played well in some of the Majors so I felt like it's been close but not really close.
"We're working on getting back on track, I feel like I'm back on track and I feel like I'm playing some good golf and at the moment it's about building for a big 2025 and I'm very excited to keep building this week."
