Tuesday 3 November 2015 11:55, UK
Nick Dougherty reflects on an emotional Victor Dubuisson winning the Turkish Airlines Open for the second time, and how the charismatic Frenchman will be bursting with confidence for the remainder of the Final Series.
Dubuisson was in floods of tears after tapping in the winning putt that earned him his first European Tour title since making his breakthrough on the same course two years ago - a victory that would lead to a Ryder Cup debut in 2014.
"To see him break down like that shows exactly what it means to him, to get over the line for a second time," said Dougherty on Sky Sports 4. "To win once on tour is a wonderful thing and gets the monkey off your back, but to win twice makes you believe you deserve to do it time and time again and that you've got the calibre to do it consistently.
"Victor has come back to a golf course where he has won before, which makes a huge difference to your confidence. He needed a bump in confidence and he got it, and let's not underestimate how well the flat stick worked for him this week - he was absolutely phenomenal on the greens.
"He has said he's been battling with the putter all season, but that definitely wasn't the case this week. He was great all round, the short game expertise were superb but it was the putter that won him this tournament.
"His shot at the 10th was really a one-in-100 shot at best. He was in trouble off the tee after a possible mental error in trying to hit driver. From where he was, most guys would be looking at a five or maybe something worse, but he hit the most majestic shot out of the trees, hit it close and holed the putt.
"From there you feel that the momentum was carried throughout his final round and he never left up right through to the finish. He did all the right things at exactly the right time. To win a golf tournament you need a few things to go your way and they absolutely did today.
"Now he has got that second win under his belt, I really feel that he'll start believing in himself again and we'll start seeing that sort of form that carried him in to last year's Ryder Cup team.
"He's got a great game. His swing isn't necessarily technically sound or perfect, but he has flare and flamboyance and that's why he has a perfect short game. If he keeps doing what he's doing and just gets tidier from tee to green, I think he's going to win many more tournaments.
"Victor is unpredictable but he's fun to watch, you just never know what he's going to do. Some days he's going to go out and have horrible weeks to miss the cut by a mile, but then he's going to deliver absolute excellence on others. He rides a rollercoaster of emotions, but he loves that ride."
Dubuisson's victory lifted him to seventh in the Race to Dubai standings, and although he trails Rory McIlroy by just over 1.3million euros, Dougherty feels the 25-year-old can build on this performance and could contend to finish the season as European No 1.
"The beautiful thing about these final four events is that there's eight million points up for grabs every week and players can make monumental movements," he added. "Victor's done that this week and now goes in to the final three weeks oozing with confidence again.
"He talked about not having confidence, but that will now be seeping out everywhere he goes now and he'll be desperate to get to China and keen to get another one under his belt. He could still yet win this (Race to Dubai) with a really really strong finish.
"We may lose the odd player now and then to the PGA Tour, but one thing we do particularly well is having lots of characters in the game of golf, we put on great events and get worthy champions.
"We've seen an exhibition of golf this week to rival no other. It has been superb. We've had the best of everything. We had Rory McIlroy sailing high at times as well, but then the flamboyance of Victor Dubuisson came out on top with a great finish."
