Victor Dubuisson ended his professional golf career to become a coach based out of Tenerife, but rejected a late approach from LIV Golf when announcing his retirement

Former Ryder Cup winner Victor Dubuisson retired from golf aged just 33, but wishes he made the decision sooner.

The French golfer formally made his decision to quit golf seven months ago and is now focusing on coaching, but was tested with a last-minute offer from LIV Golf to continue his career. However, after already spending a whole year preparing to launch his new coaching venture Dubuisson nobly rejected the offer in the hopes it would go to someone more willing.

In an interview with Bunkered, Dubuisson said: “[LIV] offered me an invite at the last minute. I had many, many plans for coaching and it was difficult to throw it all away. One year of preparation for this project and I didn’t want to again be in between two things. That’s why I didn’t take the invite. I prefer that another guy got the invite and used it well.”

Dubuisson now coaches out of a new facility in Tenerife, where he offers custom-made programs for golfers and helps them improve their craft.

Dubuisson turned professional in 2010 and later achieved status as the 15th-best golfer in the world. Although he never won a major tournament he does have three professional wins from his time on the European and French tour.

His greatest achievement was winning the Ryder Cup with Team Europe in 2014, but towards the end of his career Dubuisson fell out of love with the game. The penny dropped after he withdrew from 15 events in his final three seasons, and felt relief when retiring.

Dubuisson added: “I was always stuck between coaching and playing. I didn’t want to go to tournaments… I was feeling good with my game, but I was just feeling bad with all the travelling and I felt like I wanted to do something else. I was not mentally in a good place.

“I knew I was not happy anymore with this life. After 13 years I was tired of it and wanted to have a different life.”

He continued: “I have the same mentality for coaching as I did for golf when I was at the top. I don’t just do it to spend the time. I have really big targets and motivation. For me, it’s not a job. It’s the same mentality as competition. Now I could become one of the main coaches in Europe, not really for a professional but for every level.”