By Kent Gray
Luke Joy hopes to translate his recent good fortune off the course into a change of luck on it when he tees it up in the European Tour’s KLM Open in Spijk today.

The Abu Dhabi-based Englishman has endured a topsy-turvy 2017 after being forced to DQ himself at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic in February for signing an incorrect second round scorecard before being hospitalised in Pretoria with malaria after the MENA Tour’s Joburg City Masters in June.

Related: No Joy as ‘savage’ bout of malaria takes The Roar out of MENA Tour frontrunner

But the 29-year-old is in a happy place after proposing to his long-time girlfriend Lauren-Leanne Bellows while on holiday in Italy a fortnight ago and will take a relaxed attitude into his third European Tour start at The Dutch, one of the most spectacular layouts in The Netherlands.

Joy is zero for two on the European Tour after also missing the cut at the 2015 Desert Classic and will be first looking to better his four rounds to date – 77 and 73 in 2015 and 75-74 in February (he signed for a 73 in the second round after failing to notice a mistake by his playing partner and DQ’d himself after realising the mistake).

Ultimately, Joy will use the €1.8 million KLM Open to play his way into some form ahead of the first stage of European Tour Q-School in Austria next week. He’s reached the second stage of Q-School in three of the last four years but has never cracked the final tournament so has much to play for at The Dutch.

“Obviously it would be great to get a good performance and make a nice cheque to help the bank balance but I have not had a whole lot of time on the course competing recently,” said Joy who is still recovering from the “savage” bout of malaria.

“But I feel the game is in pretty good shape from my practice recently. I’ve just got to go and have fun and let my golf for the week take care of the rest.”

Joy earned his start at The Dutch courtesy of finishing second on the MENA Tour last year. He’s currently third in this season’s order of merit so could yet earn more European Tour starts with a strong finish to the Middle East and North Africa developmental Pro-Am circuit.

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He returns to local action at the Sept. 25-27 Abu Dhabi Golf Citizen Classic at Yas Links with an eye on the OOM title which earns starts in the Desert Classic, Malaysia’s Maybank Championship and Morocco’s Hassan II Trophee, as well as an invite to the PGA Tour’s DEAN & DELUCA Invitational. A full Sunshine Tour card for 2018 and exemption to the final stage of qualifying for the Asian Tour also await the champion, meaning Joy has a few massive weeks coming up.

He is in the last group off the 10th tee at 2.35pm local time (4.35pm UAE time) today alongside Dutch amateur Jerry Ji and Swedish journeyman Oscar Floren who won a Challenge Tour event in Wales in 2010 but has made just two of six cuts on the secondary tour this year.

“This is my first European Tour event in Europe so it will be good to get a different feel playing with a European crowd after two Desert Classics,” said Joy. “The course [designed by Colin Montgomerie and European Golf Design and opened in 2011] is unreal but playing very long as soft and crazy windy. I just hope the weather improves over the week.”