All to play for in the Race to Dubai
The Race to Dubai is hurtling towards another thrilling finish with more than €11million still to play for before the end of the season and the top two, Martin Kaymer and Graeme McDowell, locked in a tight tussle.
There was little movement at the top after the WGC-HSBC Champions, with Kaymer finishing tied 30th to McDowell’s tied 34th to stay more than half a million euros ahead, but Francesco Molinari rose to fourth with his victory in Shanghai and Lee Westwood cemented his place in third with the runner-up spot.
With plenty of prize money still on offer it promises to be a mouth watering final stretch as the season heads towards the Dubai World Championship presented by DP World on November 25-28.
Westwood has ruled himself out of the next two events – the Barclays Singapore Open and the UBS Hong Kong Open – and Molinari could take advantage with another good performance in Singapore as he is just over €160,000 behind.
The focus is not only at the top of The Race, however. Over the next three weeks numerous players will be vying for position, knowing that huge benefits are at stake. Miguel Angel Jiménez slipped one place to seventh but should stay in the top 15, thereby ensuring a share of the $7.5million Bonus Pool and entry into next season’s most lucrative tournaments, including The Open Championship.
“It has been a very good season for me,” said Jiménez, who at 46 is the oldest player to win three tournaments in a single season on The European Tour. “The aim for the rest of the year is just to play well in the last three tournaments and it would be great to finish in the top five in The Race to Dubai.”
Photo (©Getty Images) : Graeme McDowell and Martin Kaymer look like taking the fight to be European Number One all the way to the Dubai World Championship.
At the other end of the age spectrum, Matteo Manassero cemented his place in the top 60 of The Race to Dubai, moving up one place to 46th and practically guaranteeing his place in the field for the Dubai World Championship.
Manassero said: “My goal for the season was to earn my European Tour card for next year, but to win my first tournament at the CASTELLO MASTERS Costa Azahar and get into the Dubai World Championship is fantastic. I am very excited about 2011, my first full season on the Tour, but first I will be trying to finish as high up The Race to Dubai as possible by playing well over the next few weeks.?
Jiménez said of Manassero: “There’s nearly 30 years between us but we are playing on the same Tour and it’s very nice. He has great opportunities and is showing what a talent he is. There is no way I could have played professionally when I was Matteo’s age. He has a talent which was recognised when he was almost a baby, so all his life he has been working towards this, but still it is amazing that he has reached this level so young.”
Free tickets for the season ending Dubai World Championship presented by DP World are available from the website www.dubaiworldchampionship.com. In addition to DP World – Presenting Sponsor for the second year in succession – the Dubai World Championship is supported by Premium Partners Rolex, Emirates, and BMW; Sponsors Atlantis, CNN, The National and Polo/Ralph Lauren; and Event Supporters Dubai Duty Free, MMI, TNT and Toshiba.
