Bernd Wiesberger opened up on the psychological barrier he has faced in recent years as his focus turned to building on the momentum gained by his long-awaited return to winning ways on the DP World Tour.
The Austrian struggled to hold back the tears in the immediate aftermath of his victory at the Volvo China Open on Sunday, 1,793 days on from winning the Made in HimmerLand presented by FREJA in May 2021.
In between, Wiesberger has played in the Ryder Cup but only retained full playing privileges for this season through a career money list exemption.
But with victory, his ninth DP World Tour title, he is exempt through to the end of the 2028 season.
Despite his pedigree, Wiesberger – twice a winner on the Rolex Series – admitted questioning whether he would ever celebrate victory again.
"I've not had that [winning] feeling for a couple of years now, and you never know if you've got it to get over the line again, so it's nice to prove to myself that I was able to," he said.
"Obviously, as I said, it sets us up completely different with the schedule, and allows me to be a little bit freer and have a better rhythm maybe to the season.
"So, lots of benefits that come from winning and looking forward to push on from that week."
Wiesberger arrives at this week's Turkish Airlines Open tied second on the Asian Swing Rankings and nearing a return inside the world's top 200.
While anyone down to 80th on the standings could yet win the Swing, the 40-year-old is in a strong position to secure a spot at next month's US PGA Championship for those who finish in the top three.
That would provide another step on Wiesberger's return to prominence after a period which tested his resolve.
He added: "Everybody came up to me and congratulated me and also received a lot of messages from friends, family and other people from around the world.
"It is nice to have brought some joy to people on a Sunday afternoon and those who watched me play. Yeah, it's great."
Wiesberger is making his seventh appearance at the Turkish Airlines Open, with his best result a tie for fourth in 2016.
The National Golf Club is making its DP World Tour debut this week and despite having only played nine holes in practice so far, he is impressed with the parkland layout in Belek, Antalya.
"It's a tricky golf course, not too much rough, because otherwise it would play really difficult," he said.
"It's quite tight, quite strategic, not super long, but the greens have some complexity to them and you need to be precise, which I think normally plays into my kind of game."
