World No 8

Wentworth members should not be surprised if a motorhome powers into the car park this week, the theme from The Dukes of Hazzard roaring from within. It will just be Rory Sabbatini arriving for his round. Sabbatini was born in Durban, South Africa, but lists “becoming a Texan” among his hobbies and he demonstrates all the brash confidence of the state, right down to his gaudy silver belt buckles.

When competing on the PGA Tour in the United States, he travels to events in a luxury “recreational vehicle” (RV). For Sabbatini, and others such as John Daly and Davis Love III, it is more relaxing to travel with his family than to stay in hotels. “You don’t find yourself getting stressed out,” Sabbatini said. “I’m friends with Daly. We usually park next to each other. We have grills on the side of our RVs and flip a coin over who cooks the steaks.”

Sabbatini went to university in Arizona, where Rick LaRose, the coach, was impressed. “He has all the shots and I’m convinced he will soon be one of the best players in the world,” he said. Sabbatini has justified that faith by rising to No 8 in the world rankings on the back of top-ten places in his past five events and a tie for second at this year’s Masters. He intends to be No 1 next year. The South African has often courted controversy. He wore camouflage trousers to honour fallen soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan until the tour banned them and he has a string of noisy fans known as Rory’s Rowdy Roadies.

In the 1996 NCAA Championship, the university competition, Sabbatini came second behind Tiger Woods. He has flitted around Woods since, most notably at the Wachovia Championship in Charlotte, in May, when he was paired with the world No 1 in the final round and spent much of it talking himself up. Then, after Woods had won by five strokes, Sabbatini had the brass neck to claim that Woods was “more beatable than ever”. Woods pointed out that he has won more titles this year than Sabbatini has in his career.

One of Sabbatini’s favourite sayings is: “You lick the lollipop of mediocrity once and you’ll suck for ever.” He is not mediocre. But he is also not Tiger Woods. Not quite.

Factfile

Age: 31 Nationality: S African Wins: 5 Major title wins: 0 Major record in 2007: Masters: equal second; US Open: equal 51st; Open: missed cut; US PGA: missed cut How he qualified for World Match Play: Eleventh on major championship ranking Previous WMP experience: None