Tommy Fleetwood on Abu Dhabi Championship and start of DP World Tour season

It would be an overstatement to say Tommy Fleetwood's career is at a crossroads but there is no doubt the Englishman is seeking awkward answers to get his golf game back on track after a frustrating 2021.

«It's always a fine balance because without being too hard on yourself and without being overly critical, you don't get anywhere near as far as what you want in life,» Fleetwood told BBC Sport.

«But at the same time you can take it too far and be detrimental to yourself, so you're always on a knife edge.»

When better to turn the corner than this week? As he turns 31, Fleetwood comes back to the Kingdom where he has twice reined supreme with stellar victories at the HSBC Abu Dhabi Championship in 2017 and 2018.

They were triumphs over strong fields that marked the Southport native as a top class talent.

But while he has plenty of encouraging vibes from this part of the world, Fleetwood has to conquer a markedly different environment to put his name on this trophy for a third time.

This week's 2022 DP World Tour (formerly European Tour) curtain raiser has switched venues from the muscular Abu Dhabi Golf Club to the Kyle Phillips designed Yas Links layout. A spectacular course ranked in the top 50 in the world, it is akin to a Kingsbarns of the Gulf type test.

Fleetwood is embarking on the process with plenty of perspective after a season in which he slid down the standings and lost automatic playing privileges in the United States. The former top-10 player is now 41st in the world rankings.

He ended 2021 in decent fashion with four top 12's in his last seven tournaments, including a runner-up finish at the Italian Open. But the meat of the year, when the biggest prizes on both sides of the Atlantic were up for grabs, was full