Arrived on Thursday January 9 in Dubai, Tom Vaillant took up residence the next day at Trump International Golf Clubto test the woods of its equipment manufacturer in particular TaylorMade. Since this Sunday he has been atEmirates Golf Clubhost of Hero Dubai Desert Classicpremier Rolex Series of the 2024-25 season DP World Tour.
This week you are making your big return to competition after a very long break that began at the end of the Genesis Championship at the end of October in South Korea. Why such a long absence?
I had warned my staff that I would not play in the winter. I needed it. I had a few injuries during 2024, particularly my back. I played almost the entire season on anti-inflammatories… I couldn’t continue like that. When I was an amateur, I always had a break between the end of October and the beginning of February. It was hard when we moved up from the Challenge Tour to the DP World Tour last winter, going to South Africa and then to Mauritius. I didn’t have a winter break. There was no in-depth work to prepare myself for 2024. So I wanted to take time to recharge the batteries, especially mentally. We play so many tournaments that even there, not having played in November and December, I still accumulated 27 tournaments last season. It’s a lot.
What did you do during this break?
I had small phases where for three, four days, I didn’t touch the clubs. But I love golf, I wanted to play in the fun sense of the word, with my friends, have a laugh on the course and put aside the performance that I can have every day. Recovering the essence of the game in some way. I played in the Cannes region, at Terre Blanche, a little in Vidauban, etc. I did so much sport that I found it pointless to put any intensity into golf since physically, I couldn’t hold it at all. When I lightened up the sport a little more, I was able to return to golf with much more intensity. All day, hitting a lot of balls, and adding volume.
Morocco
