By Kent Gray
Pat Perez obviously intends on playing well in his Omega Dubai Desert Classic debut and will no doubt have a gaggle of golf’s assembled keyboard warriors, as well as his share of the Majlis galleries, willing him on.

From the “amazing wife”/amazing life he currently leads, to perceived Ryder Cup wrongs, a French Open faux-pas, the curly topic of Tiger, to doing it “tough” flying into Dubai on Sergio Garcia’s private jet, the 41-year-old was in top media centre form Tuesday.

Related: Perez backspins on ‘he can’t beat anybody’ Tiger

Perez has never been one for political correctness and while there was nothing too risqué in his pre-tournament presser, it was thoroughly entertaining. His refreshing honesty and dry humour will certainly be welcomed by the global media this week provided he can live up to his world No.18 billing.

Things started a little slowly before Perez warmed to his task when the topic turned to the Ryder Cup. In the past, it seemed that some Americans at this time of the year hadn’t made the Ryder Cup a priority. Has that changed post Hazeltine?

Related: Garcia, Stenson and McIlroy headline marquee first round groups

“Not really for me,” Perez said before going slightly off-piste on a fascinating personal rant.

“I won in Malaysia [CIMB Classic] and I finished fifth in Korea [CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges] and I didn’t get any points for the American side. That kind of upset me a little bit; the fact that I’m 13 on the list, but I should be probably three or four.

“So it kind of put a bitter taste in my mouth; the fact that you win on the PGA Tour and you beat some good players, and yet you don’t get any points because of whatever our committee has decided to do. So that upset me a little bit.

“But The Ryder Cup, it’s a big thing. It’s in France this year, so every American wants to represent their country just like every European wants to represent their countries. You know, it will be exciting to play on a team. I think that’s the only thing I’m really missing. Everybody wants to win a major but there’s only four. Ryder Cup means that you’ve done something really good for two years to make a team, and you get to be with your fellow Americans and represent your country and try to bring home the Cup.”

Perez was adamant “if you win the same calendar year as the actual Cup, they should count. I don’t know why they wouldn’t”. So, have you been able to make that point to anyone?

“No. I haven’t seen Jim [U.S. captain Jim Furyk] at all. I haven’t seen Phil, anybody that’s part of it. I’m sure they are not really interested in my opinion anyway (laughter) so wouldn’t really matter. It wouldn’t really matter.

“You know, all I can do is what I can do. I’m not really worried about — I guess like I’ve said in the past, I’d love to win again, I’d love to be in contention in a major, try to even have a look at one [a major title] would be incredible, and then get back to The Tour Championship because that would set me up again next year to be in all those big tournaments and WGCs and majors and the big schedule that you want to play. That’s really my focus.

“Ryder Cup would be really the cherry on top because that means everything else already had happened and then I played well and then bang, I play the Tour Championship and then The Ryder Cup. They all kind of go hand in hand. So if I don’t play well enough, then I don’t get to Tour Championship and The Ryder Cup’s out, anyway.

“You know, I’m not really focused on it. I’m having a great time in life right now. I’m having a great time on the course. I’ve got really no stress right now. I’m just kind of playing and that’s making it easier for me. But you know, if things go well, they go well. I would love to be part of it, but if I’m not, then, you know, I’ve never been in it, anyway, so I’m not really losing anything.”

Perez was then asked on the travel element of The European Tour versus the PGA Tour?

“Well, the travel, it was tough coming over here. I had to fly with Sergio on his plane from (laughter) it’s like, I had to go commercial from Phoenix to Austin, which was an hour and a half; and I had to get on that G5 and fly all the way over to Singapore and sleep the whole way, and same up here to Dubai. So it’s been tough so far but I’m managing.”

The 41-year-old was quizzed on how many other European Tour events he was likely to play in 2018 which is where the French Open funny reared its head.

“I’m going back to the Porsche in Germany and I was going to try to play the one in — the French, just in case I, you know, got hot enough, have a look at it [le Golf National where the Ryder Cup will also be played].

“Funny enough, I was in Paris last year during The French Open on vacation and I didn’t know the tournament was going on [laughs]. I should have planned it where I played the tournament and I could have done the whole thing. That would have been pretty smart but I didn’t look at it that way. Maybe the wife wouldn’t like that though too much. Vacation’s not a vacation then.”

“I don’t know. I’m going to try to piece it together. I’ll go over it with my group and we’ll see, you know, if things are going really well and I’m still staying high in the FedEx, maybe we can add a few more in. The camaraderie out here, the European group is fantastic. I have a lot of friends out here. I’ve had a lot of people come up and say, hey, great seeing you this and that, haven’t seen you in a while. It’s just a different vibe out here. It’s great. I like it. I like it. It would be nice to mix in a few more.”

Talking of his peers, Perez mightn’t quite fit the profile of today’s model tour professional, the lithe, big-hitting, gym and range rats. But he is more than comfortable “owning his own stuff”.

“Now I’ve won three times and I’ve gotten into the Top-20 in the world, it just seems — I don’t know, it’s not that it’s not as important. It’s just that life is just different,” he said.

“I see more to life than just golf, and before, it was just always golf. I don’t want to say I wasn’t in a good place but I wasn’t playing… I wasn’t this and that, but now life is fantastic and it’s carrying on in my golf.

“I’ve got my game in a spot where it’s never been. I know how I’m going to hit it every day. My short game has been pretty good. I’m not worried about the long hitters and watching them hit 6-iron to a par 5 and I’ve got 3-wood. I’ve gotten past all that.

“You know, I do I what I do and I’m just kind of staying in my own zone.”

With that said, how about this week? You’ve played the course, does it suit your eye?

“It does. It’s a desert course, which, I live in Scottsdale, so we have all desert courses. The grass is pretty similar. They are small greens, but the layouts right in front of you. You hit it in your spot, hit it on the green. I think the layout is fantastic. It’s cool, too, to see all the buildings around and everything. I’m excited about it. I think it’s awesome.”

The media corps pens are poised.