Defending Champion Karlsson cements place in Dubai World Championship
Sweden’s Robert Karlsson made sure he will be defending his title in the season-ending Dubai World Championship presented by DP World with a tied fourth place finish in the US PGA Championship.
That performance, helped by two impressive rounds of 67 over the weekend at Atlanta Athletic Club, lifted him from 47th to 25th in The Race to Dubai, ensuring he will be in the top 60 by the time The European Tour’s elite assemble at Jumeirah Golf Estates for the season’s climax from December 8-11.
Only the top 60 players in The Race to Dubai qualify for the lucrative US$7.5 million event, and at its conclusion, those in the top 15 of the Race share an extra US$7.5 million Bonus Pool.
Young Korean Noh Seung-yul boosted his chances of being in Dubai with a tied 45th place finish to move from 63rd to 59th in the Race, while Spaniard Sergio Garcia came tied 12th to rise from 23rd to 17th. Dane Anders Hansen narrowed the gap on leader Luke Donald by coming third in the US PGA Championship and has still not given up on catching the Englishman, despite trailing by more than €2 million.
“I think you saw from my performance in Atlanta that I’m a player who never gives up and the same thing applies to The Race to Dubai,” said Hansen. “We all know that Luke has a healthy lead at the top but I’ve managed to reduce it a little bit this week and I will keep trying from now until the end of the season, starting at Gleneagles in a couple of weeks’ time.
“I finished 27th in the first Dubai World Championship (2009) on my way to being 19th in The Race to Dubai and then last year I improved on both counts, finishing 11th in the tournament to end the year in seventh spot in The Race to Dubai. As I’m already sixth now, hopefully I can push on to give Luke a real run for his money at the end of the season.”
Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer switched places – the former rising from fifth to fourth courtesy of finishing tied eighth in Atlanta – in the only other change in the top ten in The Race.
Fans can get their tickets for the 2011 Dubai World Championship presented by DP World – held under the patronage of HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Sports Council – by registering at the official website www.DubaiWorldChampionship.com.
