CLARE BODEL: Welcome, Eugenio. You're here at the DP World Tour, just your second appearance in this tournament, and you've arrived leading The Race to Dubai. Just wonder how you're feeling, what your mindset is at this point in the season.
EUGENIO CHACARRA: Yeah, obviously coming in here first tells you how good of a season I had. Yeah, it's a lot to play this week, a lot of points and a lot of good players. It's just a new week. I'm going to try to do my best and see where that takes me.
All I can ask for is hopefully I can play good and I think I played good last week. Had a good week, a lot of birdies, a lot of positives. I just need to clean up a few things and have a chance on Sunday. That's what I dream of, and obviously it's not going to be easy but happy to be in the position that I am.
Q. It's around 18 months since you won the Hero Indian Open which gave you a place on this tour. Could you have imagined that you would be in this position -- and how your levels of confidence and belief have changed since that win?
EUGENIO CHACARRA: Yeah, I always believe in myself. Had a tremendous amateur career. I was one of the best -- I was at one of the best universities in America, and I was No. 2 player in the world, and you could say No. 1 because the Keith Nakajima was playing a lot on the Japan professional tour, so it was hard to catch him. Of all the players that were in the U.S., I was the highest ranking. I think I had a great college career, great amateur career, had a bunch of wins.
Obviously when you turn pro, and expect the same thing of me. Worked really hard. I believe in myself, and like I said when I turned pro, my goal was to be one of the best players in the world and that's what I'm working every single day for.
Q. What are you working on this week that you weren't happy with last week?
EUGENIO CHACARRA: Obviously the driver cracked in the Pro-Am last week, and there was a little tweaking until I got it on the weekend. We did a little tweak, it was drawing a little more than I liked it and we got it back to see what I like and it's been great in the practice round.
I put in a new wedge last week because the greens were firm, and it really worked. Turned out the weight was a little heavy, and I just went back to my old wedge that I've been using all year. Got a little confidence, and just a lot of hard work around the greens. Obviously it's not easy with the grain, but yeah, tried to get back to how it was all year with my short game.
Q. How have the last sort of six weeks been for you? Because the attention on you has sort of grown as The Race to Dubai has neared the conclusion, and you're doing press conferences more often, you're speaking at the party last night. You are one of the big stars on the Tour now. How has that changed with more demands?
EUGENIO CHACARRA: Obviously when you win, those things happen. It happens a lot to people that they didn't win and they think they are bigger than they are.
But for me, I'm the same guy. I talk on the golf course, I had a great season. The last six weeks I finish in the Top-25 I've ever played which a tremendous level on this tour. Even though last week wasn't the best week I still beat 48 guys and those 48 guys had a great season and came to the first Play-Offs.
I'm just happy where my game is. I'm happy I'm enjoying playing golf and working as hard as I can, and at the end of the day, all I can do is try to be my best version of myself out there and see where that takes me.
It's not easy. Every week, how hard golf; things you figure out and you shoot a high round. I just try to get better every single day and even if I have a good round or bad round, I got better and that's what I like about this game. I just need to focus on myself. That's enough.
Q. Only two Spaniards have won The Race to Dubai. Seve won it six times, and Jon Rahm won it another time. What would it mean for you to follow in the footsteps of Seve in particular but also Jon?
EUGENIO CHACARRA: Yeah, just coming with a chance to be able to win it this week is something very special. I mean, only me and Jon has a chance to win it this week, and there is a lot of great talent in Spain and a lot of great players on this tour from Spain. That tells you how tough it is and how good you need to play.
I didn't play three of the four majors, so I come with a little less advantage than the other European guys. I'm happy I have a chance to go win and go win it on the course. We are playing for a lot, and there's a lot of things that can happen.
Yeah it would mean the world to put my name where Seve's and Jon is, two of the best players of all time, will be really special.
Q. Trying to hold off Rory, who has an amazing record around here. You're sort of inexperienced here. Can that be a factor this week, or do you just have to concentrate on yourself?
EUGENIO CHACARRA: Yeah, obviously we know how good Rory McIlroy is, and he's one of my idols. It's going to be a tough test, and that's what I dreamed of since I was little. But I already beat him in India. So I need to remind myself that I can compete with him and I can beat him like I did already a couple weeks ago.
So I'm just going to go out there -- obviously this is a course that he's had a lot of success and I only played once and didn't do very good. They are just numbers. This is golf and crazy things happen. I'm just going to enjoy myself, and if I bring my A Game, I'm going to be able to compete with him on Sunday.
Q. You'll play with him tomorrow. Is there a danger that you could get into match-play mode and just concentrate on trying to do better than Rory rather than trying to shoot the lowest score possible?
EUGENIO CHACARRA: Yeah, I think it really helped to for me to play with him last week to be honest. I made a lot of mistakes that I probably shouldn't have done, but it was the first time playing with him, know.
So that's going to help me a lot. I learned from it. I had a great talk with my team after that first round. And I didn't feel it at the moment, but it's really hard to just get into the bubble and start thinking about his game instead of focusing on what you have to control.
It helped playing last week, it really helped me to see what I can do and what I shouldn't do, and I think I'm more prepared this week to go tee it up tomorrow and just focus on my game and that's what I can control.
Q. You mentioned you only played one major, and you could become the first player this century to win The Race to Dubai having only played in one major. Just wondering what that says about your consistency and what that achievement would mean.
EUGENIO CHACARRA: Yeah, that tells you how good the play is and how much I've been on the leaderboard. And it's not only three wins: I have a couple seconds and a couple thirds and a couple fourths. I've been in contention on Sundays and that's what I work every single day is to have a chance to win on Sunday.
Yeah, I'm really proud of the position I am. I believe in myself, when I started the season I said I wanted to win a couple times and I got done early in the season and to keep winning and have good weeks, it's really nice.
One of the goals was to first name the year in the Top-50 in the world, and looks like I already have that and I'll be teeing it up in Augusta next year, and that will be a dream that I really wanted to do in my professional career. It's not an easy task to do.
I'm excited to see where my golf takes me, but like I said, all I can control to keep working hard and to keep doing the things that I'm doing, that's definitely working.
Q. This is your 31st event in the season and only one player in the field has played in more. How do you maintain your energy levels?
EUGENIO CHACARRA: Winning this year was going to take a lot of tournament. I really wanted to get that PGA Tour card before next year. The PGA Tour changes, and we don't know what's going to happen, how many card we're going to have or not so I really wanted to get it done this year. For that, I was going to need to play as much as possible, because you have more chances if you play more.
So we knew that at the start of of the season. We did a great preseason. I got a couple new guys on my team that really helped me. I've got a really nice doctor and nutritionist and physio and workout guy that's been great for me. Before, I couldn't play more than three weeks, and this year, I had a stretch I played seven weeks; and on the seventh week I had a chance to win in France. Just to feel my body was good to compete, it makes me relaxed and it makes me trust the guys that I have on my team.
Yeah, we are doing a great job even though with this heat and everything, it's been a really tiring week. I was able to play 18 holes yesterday and 18 holes today and I still feel pretty fresh. I'm excited for the week to start, and yeah, hopefully I can have a better week than last week.
Q. We all know that India has a special place in your heart, and yesterday in the Pro-Am, you played with one of our Indian legends. I don't know how much you know about cricket, but do you know Kapil Dev and who he is?
EUGENIO CHACARRA: I didn't know but we did some research after the round. He was a tremendous guy and what he achieved for India and winning the World Cup in 1983, we talked about it a little. He's a tremendous cricket player and a great golfer, too. We had a good fun and the group was great. They made a lot of putts and they got the win.
Yeah, every time I play with Indian people or I go play in India, I have good results and good vibes. Hopefully he can have these vibes coming into this week.
Q. He is now 66, and he has been a very good golfer for the last few years, ever since he gave up cricket but yesterday, he won as well. Can I just get an opinion from you about his golf game?
EUGENIO CHACARRA: He's very good. You can tell he's an athlete. He does it his own way but it works. He hits it pretty far for his age, and he's a fast player. Likes to play golf. We had a chance to play with the Indian Tour president, too, and one of his buddies, and yeah, they had a great time. I think their handicaps are a little high for how they play, but yeah, it was a good time.
Like I said, he's a great guy and he's very successful in sport, so it was nice to talk to him and chat to him about it. He obviously knew I had a chance to win The Race to Dubai this week.
So he just gave me a couple of advice on how to handle pressure and how to just focus on myself and try to just remind myself that that's what I dream of since I was little, just to be in this position. It's a position that not a lot of people can have in their career, so just try to enjoy the four days as much as possible, and if I do that, he said I'm going to have a chance to get it done Sunday. That's what I'm going to be focusing on and hopefully I'll have a chance on Sunday.
Q. Next year, you will be playing on the PGA Tour, but how much will the DP World Tour figure in your plans, how many events you might play next year on the DP World Tour?
EUGENIO CHACARRA: Yeah, that's a good question. I love the DP World Tour, and I'm going to try to play as much as possible. To be honest, it depends how I play in America. If I can get off to a hot start, get a win or play more out here than I need to, but the goal is to keep getting points there and get my card and compete with the best players in the world.
Yeah, my goal is to play here as much as possible. I'm for sure going to play any National Open. I'm for sure going to go back to India. Those are tournaments I know I'm going to play for sure.
But like I said, if I get off to a hot start on the PGA Tour and I can grab some good points and get my card safe and make the Play-Offs or get a win, I will try to may as much as positive I think out here because this is a tour I really enjoy and it's a tour that's helped me grow and it's a tour that's only going up from here.
Q. This year, you went way up the rankings, No. 1 at the moment. How has this newfound fame affected you at home? Are you more recognizable when you go back home?
EUGENIO CHACARRA: Well, I don't go back too often. I couldn't really tell you.
But yeah, it's what we dream since I was little, to be one of the best athletes in Spain in my sport and that's what I work for every day. At the end of the day, what happens on the golf course is just on the golf course. I'm still the same person. I still talk to my buddies. I have my buddies at home in America. I'm still a kid. I've got my girlfriend. I've got my family and my girlfriend that I just go hang out, and I'm just another guy.
Like I can be great at golf but at the end of the day, I want to be a good person. I want to have a family. I want to treat my people the best I can, and that's what I do outside the golf course. It doesn't matter how good you are if you are not a good person or have a lot of buddies to be with.
And in my case, I have a lot of great friends around me and a family and that's my goal, to keep doing that and to keep being a better person and being nice to them and to provide everything I can for my family right now and for my future family.
Q. Your sister is a very good golfer, as well. Does she ever give you any advice now that you're playing tournaments at this level? Does she ever talk to you about golf, and what does she say?
EUGENIO CHACARRA: Yeah, obviously she's starting her career, and rookie years aren't easy. Like I said, I played a lot of weeks this year, so I couldn't really see her much.
But yeah, we chat every day. She has questions, I have questions. And she's going to be a great player. She loves the game of golf. She works hard. First years aren't easy. She's going to go back to Q-School in a couple weeks. She's been working hard, and I think her game is back where it's supposed to be. I'm excited for her to keep going.
Golf is not a sprint; it's a marathon. She's young. She's learning. And the golf life, it can look a dream but it's a hard life. You're not home a lot. You're in airplanes. You're in hotels. You're playing bad. You're missing cuts and you're losing money. So there's a lot to it that's not easy, and I'm just there for helping her all I can.
I'm good help for her. I try to give her my advice and help her all I can with money and stuff. So yeah, she's a tremendous, tremendous person, and I think is going to give Spanish golf a lot of great things, like she's already done as an amateur. And she won on the Ladies European Tour this year. She just needs to relax a little and get used to the LPGA because there's a lot of great players, and she just needs to get the confidence back and I know she will.
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