On the eve of teeing it up in the Middle East for the first time in his career, Jason Dufner indicated that more European Tour events may be on his schedule in the coming years.
‘I’ve discussed taking up membership on the European Tour, I thought about possibly doing it this year,’ Dufner told reporters while preparing for this week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship. ‘With the four majors and the World Golf Championships counting as events and throw in three or four more that would also count, it may be a possibility in the future.’
Having ascended to 11th in the most recent world ranking, Dufner is playing in Abu Dhabi for the first time and will also be in the field next week at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters. Between those two events, the aforementioned majors and WGC events, and the Presidents Cup this fall – which counts as an event toward European Tour membership – Dufner would would be just two events shy of the minimum 13 required for full-time member status.
‘We are pretty spoiled in the U.S. We just kind of play in one area and people are pretty focused on the PGA Tour,’ he added. ‘But there are a lot of other tours and a lot of other great events around the world.’
While several notable European players are taking up PGA Tour membership this year – including Ryder Cuppers Martin Kaymer and Nicolas Colsaerts – the top American players have yet to reciprocate. Dufner, who first began globetrotting last fall with a runner-up finish to Bo Van Pelt at the Perth International in Australia, feels that testing his game against the world’s best on a variety of stages can only help him improve.
‘I think it’s good to compete around the world and see where you stack up,’ he noted. ‘I think it makes you a little bit of a better player to come over here and experience golf in different places against different golfers.’