Marc Warren opens up on new fitness regime and people believing in him
Scots says he is heading back to the DP World Tour after three-year gap as a ‘more-rounded player’
Marc Warren is returning to the DP World Tour looking more like a 35-year-old than a man ten years older after embarking on a fitness campaign to show his sponsors that he still had the drive and determination to be back playing at the top level.
The four-time tour winner is gearing up for being back on the main tour after a three-year absence as one of the 15 players to graduate from this year’s Hotel Planner Tour at the end of the Grand Final at Club de Golf Alcanada in Mallorca on Sunday.
It’s an exciting opportunity for Warren at this stage in his career, admitting it might even have been over if it hadn’t been for the financial support he received from Liontrust, an asset management company that has Martin Gilbert on its board, over the past couple of years.
“Obviously Callaway standing beside me has been great,” admitted Warren of the equipment company he’s been associated with for most of his professional career as he reflected on the various elements of his backroom and support team. “As has Robin Marshall and Martin Gilbert supporting me on the financial side.
“I honestly don’t know if I’d have been playing this year if it wasn’t for those two and their support. They decided last year that it would be just for one year but, when I went down to London to see them, they stuck by me for one more year.
“Part of the inspiration for me from that was that I felt I needed to show them I was all in, which is where the fitness thing came from. I hadn’t seen Robin for a couple of months and when we did meet up he could see straight away that I looked different. It’s little things like that. I’ve never been one just to take support from people and sit back. Hopefully I can repay them with results like this.”
It was Warren’s dad Bobby who mentioned to this correspondent in Mallorca on Sunday that Warren looks ten years younger than he actually is, which is mainly down to seeming to be fitter than at any time in his career.
“I’ve worked hard on that massively,” he admitted. “I made a conscious effort to try and not hit balls after a round unless it is really needed because that would just be my habit. Nowadays, I arrive with my gym stuff and do a workout, as I did every single morning last week as my warm up.
“I then go to the range feeling completely warmed up and there are no aches or stiffness. I’ve been training a lot with (English player) Callum Tarran when we’ve been on the road. We’ve become really good friends and that has helped massively as well.
“I’m losing weight but still maintaining clubhead speed and that has been massively important. Yeah, I might be 45, but I would say I have been training consistently more this year than I have at any other time during my career. In the past, I would do it at home, but it would always fall by the wayside when I was away.”
Though it would still have been satisfying if he’d been there on his own, Warren regained his coveted card with his wife Laura, son Archie, daughter Sophie and his mum and dad, Cathie and Bob, out in Mallorca cheering him on. And, boy, did they all enjoy watching him roll in a birdie putt on the 18th green in the final round to secure his spot among this year’s graduates.
“Oh, incredible,” he said, smiling. “The aforementioned Robin Marshall, one of my closest friends and biggest shoulder to lean on, flew out on Saturday morning to be here on the weekend. He’s been a massive help. Another person I’m really good mates with, Andy Black, couldn’t make it this weekend, though he was worried about putting extra pressure on me if he’d been out here.
“It was great to have people out here with me and even on 18 I was gesturing to them to try and find out if I needed to make the birdie putt to get my card. It was one of those maybes ayes, maybes not gestures I got back, to be honest (laughing). To see him as I came off the 18th was great, as was seeing my dad straight after that.”
As for son Archie, he’s a golf nut and will remember Sunday for the rest of his life. “A couple of times on the front nine, it felt that I was swinging it really good,” said Warren. “But it was just tricky. I said to myself ‘this isn’t going to be easy’. It was just one of those days when, although it wasn’t a major, you almost need that mindset of playing a major. It’s going to be difficult and you are going to look at the finest details of everything you do in a round like that.
“The mindset stood me in good stead and I must admit that I looked over at Archie a few times and saw him in his own little world. When I holed my bunker shot at 14, I could hear him shouting ‘come on’. Little things like that are priceless.”
Warren, who is coached by Gregor Monks, is excited to have earned the chance to add to a grand total of 500 DP World Tour appearances, with the 2027 campaign starting with a double-header in Australia in late November/early December.
“What’s the goal now?” he said. “Staying on the DP World Tour until I am 50 would be nice. I think there’s a lot of good stuff there and there’s nothing to suggest I can’t do well on the DP World Tour. I’ve been out there and done well in the past. But I’d say I am possibly a more-rounded player now. I think I drive the ball better now than I did maybe 10-15 years ago. So, I am really looking forward to being back on the DP World Tour.
“I have missed it massively. Sometimes it can be more difficult when you are actually missing something as you find yourself just looking up all the time and knowing how good it is. Hopefully with the categories changing a bit it is a strong schedule I get to play next year coming off here.”
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