PARADISE may be twice as nice for Paul Wesselingh as the European Senior Tour season comes to an end this weekend.
The venue is the idyllic Indian Ocean island setting of Mauritius and, on Sunday evening, the 52-year-old Kedleston Park golfer hopes to be holding the John Jacobs Trophy as the Tour's order of merit champion.
The odds of that happening are good. Wesselingh's win in the last event, in Taiwan last month, left him almost 48,000 euros ahead of the only man who can deny him overall top spot, Denmark's Steen Tinning.
Only a win in Mauritius will do for Tinning and even then he has to hope that his rival finishes outside the top six or so. Having finished in the top 10 in seven out of his last eight tournaments, Wesselingh shows no sign of allowing that to happen.
"It's all stacked in my favour," he said. "I'd rather be in my position than his because he knows he could win the tournament and it still wouldn't be enough, so all the pressure is on him.
"I'm quite relaxed about it. I want to win it, no doubt about that, but I'm not thinking about finishing top of the order of merit too much and trying to focus on winning this tournament.
"When I got to half way through the season and I was top of the money list, I spent too much time looking at what the other players behind me were doing instead of concentrating on my own game and I learned from that, so I'll be preparing just like I would for any other tournament.
"I would be disappointed if I don't win the order of merit, of course I would, but I can't be disappointed really. To win three times in one year is incredible.
"The worst that can happen is that I finish second. I've won three tournaments and I'm in a good position to finish top of the order of merit and if you'd told me I would be in this position at the start of the season, I would have laughed.
"It's given me a whole lot of confidence, the way I have played this year, and my confidence is sky high after the win in Taiwan. I feel amazing right now."
All was not so right for Wesselingh when he first got back to Britain from Taiwan as he was bothered by a rib injury and was told to rest. The long gap between events worked in his favour.
"I was quite lucky really because if this tournament had come a week after Taiwan, I don't think I would have been able to play," he added.
"I've practiced this week and felt back to normal. I think my body was just fatigued. It's been a long season and I'm still not used to it, I suppose.
"One thing I have learned from this season is that I have to give my body time to recover."
Winning the order of merit could lead to lucrative invitations to play on the US Champions Tour, the Japan Senior Tour and possibly a few more European Tour events.
That could make a punishing schedule but at the end of a career as a jobbing PGA pro when the rewards have not always been so good, Wesselingh is conscious that this is his chance to earn a little financial security.
"I'm not thinking too far ahead until I get the job done but from a financial point of view, winning the order of merit would be huge for me," he said.
"I'm a professional golfer and that's what it's all about after all – bringing in the money to pay off the mortgage and make sure the family is provided for.
"You never know how long this is going to last. I could get an injury next year and have to pack in or I could be able to keep playing for another 10 years but you have to take opportunities when they come.
"You only get this small window and I have to make the most of it."
