Author: Mathieu Wood
Youthful energy. It’s a trait Casey Jarvis possesses and one of the reasons he’s traveling the globe every week during his rookie season on the DP World Tour.
Casey Jarvis made his major championship debut at the U.S. Open earlier this year
The 21-year-old South African is the youngest player to compete in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. Not only that, this week’s Rolex Series event is his 34th start in Dubai 2024, the most appearances among the top 70 players.
Since graduating from the Challenge Tour last season, Jarvis has taken every opportunity to compete. As he said, golf is a 24/7 obsession.
“The experience has been great,” Jarvis told DP World Tour on the eve of the penultimate race of the season.
“I've learned a lot this year. I think this year has been the most I've learned in my life. The classes have been incredible and in good shape every week.
“Playing a lot of golf. Traveling is difficult sometimes. It's been so far away from home.
“But it's been a good season and we've put in a lot of hard work. I've accomplished everything I set out to do at the beginning of the year.”
With the exception of the BMW PGA Championship, which he was unable to play in part due to his membership category, Jarvis has played in 10 of the past 11 events since the DP World Tour resumed after a brief summer break.
However, while you'd be right to think he's feeling the effects of the workload and travel, his tie for sixth at the Genesis Championship in South Korea shows that his game is on point.
“I actually feel better playing now than I did at the beginning of the season,” he added.
“I changed my swing and I feel better now.
“My body is obviously a lot more tired now, but I feel like I can still perform to the best of my ability.”
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His result in the final race of the regular DP World Tour season earned him a place in the first playoff race of the DP World Tour in the United Arab Emirates.
Now, he hopes to team up with Rolex and become one of the top 50 players in Dubai, earning a spot at the end-of-season DP World Tour Championship in Dubai. This week he's ranked 59th from the looks of it.
“Hopefully there's still two weeks left and then a good rest before next season,” he added, aiming to start the upcoming DP World Tour season for the first time on his home soil at the Alfred Dunhill Championship in December.
With three top-10s under his belt, Rolex Series experience, and a major debut at the U.S. Open, Jarvis will surely be excited about how he handles the new challenge of the DP World Tour?
When asked if he felt the transition to the DP World Tour had been seamless, he said: “Not at all.” “It's been difficult.
“These courses are a lot harder than the courses I've played before, and they're harder compared to the courses in my hometown. It's challenging.”
“I'd probably give my year a five out of ten. I haven't played my best yet, but I've been playing well lately, so it's popping.”
The answer underlines his confidence in his game, which stems from a successful amateur career that saw him win the Southern Amateur Championship and the South African Stroke Play Championship in 2020.
While Jarvis has made impressive progress since turning pro at 19, he's always looking for more – a trait that makes him stand out.
“My expectations are so high, so if I don’t have a good week, I get really frustrated,” added Jarvis, who thanked fellow three-time DP World Tour member Brandon Stone for his work throughout the season. The help he provided.
“I think Brandon also helped me, listen, you actually did a good job.
“But I won a lot as an amateur, but I haven't won here yet. I mean, that's a major goal this year and there's still two races left, so hopefully I can get something out of it.”
“Everyone is so good, everyone is at their best and is going to win. So it's hard to manage the expectations around that.”
But regardless of whether Jarvis reaches the season final in Dubai, he will undoubtedly emerge as a better player with the knowledge gained from his successful debut at this level. Even he couldn't deny that.
“I was a very aggressive player at the beginning of the year and by the end of the year I was not that aggressive, even though I needed to be because I needed good results,” he recalled.
“So, managing your game has helped me a lot this year, and if you manage it well, you can get good results. You don't have to be aggressive and aggressive on every hole.”
