Marc Warren enjoying '˜best run of my career'

Marc Warren is among five Scots in the field for the Turkish Airlines Open in Belek. Picture: Getty Images

The 36-year-old looked to have no chance of being in the field for this week’s $7 million Turkish Airlines Open in Belek when he sat 173rd in the Race to Dubai six weeks ago.

But, thanks to four top-15 finishes in a row, he made it into the limited line-up with a bit to spare and certainly has reason to feel excited about being involved an event taking place for the second year running at the Regnum Carya resort in Belek.

Warren is determined not to raise his own expectations, having reached a time in life where he has learned that can perhaps be counter-productive.

But the East Kilbride man certainly has a spring in his step after backing up a second-place finish in the Portugal Masters with similarly strong performances in the British Masters, Dunhill Links and Italian Open.

“I think what was most satisfying in the good run I had was the way I kept it going after Portugal,” said the three-time European Tour winner.

“I wasn’t putting on any more expectations on myself during that run. I was just going out trying to do the same things.

“I was trying not to rest on my laurels. After having a good week, it was a case of moving on from that and trying to keep it going. I’ve taken a lot of pride from the way I’ve managed to do that.

“That’s something I’ve not done too well in the past, so it was nice to play consistently well for a month. It was probably the best spell of my career in terms of results, which shows that all parts of my game seemed to be in a good place.”

Having secured his playing privileges for next season on the back of that eye-catching burst of form, Warren was able to sit out the final regular of the campaign, the Andalucia Valderrama Masters a fortnight ago.

“After playing nine tournaments in a row, it was nice to have two weeks off and nice not to have to go to Valderrama chasing anything, especially on a golf course like that,” he added.

“It was a really good break, especially being able to spend some time with the family after the recent arrival of the new baby, Sophie.

“The first week I didn’t touch a club at all and the second week I gradually built things up again, playing a couple of rounds at the end of the week.

“It’s great to be playing in the Final Series, especially when six of seven weeks ago that was a long way away.

“I’m 54th in the Race to Dubai. There’s huge amount of points offer, but to round off the year by playing in all three of these events (the Nedbank Challenge takes place in South Africa next week followed by the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai) would be amazing.”

Warren, who is fighting a cold, joins Richie Ramsay, David Drysdale, Scott Jamieson and Stephen Gallacher in flying the Saltire in an event that has world No 6 Justin Rose and last year’s Open champion Henrik Stenson as its star attractions.

“I’m not putting too much expectations on myself, which is something I was maybe guilty of in the past,” insisted Warren. “I think as you get older you kind of realise that’s not the best thing to do.

“In golf, there’s a lot of things that are out of your control and I think I’m a lot better at accepting that now than in the past.”