McDowell Looking To Pounce As ‘The Race’ Hots Up
Kaymer in The Race to Dubai this week as The 2010 European Tour International Schedule moves closer to its thrilling conclusion.
The Northern Irishman travels to the UBS Hong Kong Open for his fourth tournament appearance in a row and will be keen to eat into the German’s advantage at the top with Kaymer having decided to take the penultimate week off to prepare for the Dubai World Championship presented by DP World at the Earth course, Jumeirah Golf Estates from November 25-28.
McDowell closed the gap slightly after last week’s Barclays Singapore Open, a share of third place at Sentosa Golf Club giving him a cheque for €240,907 which, compared with Kaymer cheque for €76,700 for a share of tenth place, saw him cut the deficit to €367,600.
“All golfers have goals and, after winning the US Open at Pebble Beach, my two main goals for the year were to win The Ryder Cup and then win The Race to Dubai,” said McDowell. “I was lucky enough to get the first one done and the second is the reason I am playing five weeks in a row at the end of the season.
“I’ve always said I want to get to Dubai within touching distance of Martin and where a win in the tournament would mean I would win The Race to Dubai. That hasn’t changed and hopefully I can continue to make inroads this week in Hong Kong.
“I didn’t drive the ball well at Jumeirah last year but I feel like I’ve made big steps in my golf game this year, especially my driving, so I’m looking forward to going to Dubai again and see how it sets up for this year.
“I feel really privileged to be in this position, going into the Dubai World Championship. Obviously a big week is required in Hong Kong to be as close to Martin as I can going there, considering the season he has had. So I’ll be trying my hardest to do just that.”
Caption (©Getty Images) : Graeme McDowell heads to Hong Kong with Race to Dubai leader Martin Kaymer in his sights
The Race to Dubai, however, is not simply about the top end. Merely the chance to play in the spectacular end of season showdown in the desert sees players go to great lengths to get on the flight.
One man who did make a significant move after Singapore was Denmark’s Anders Hansen, whose second placed finish saw him move from 55th place to 23rd and now within touching distance of the top 15 who will share the US$ 7.5 million Bonus Pool at the end of the Dubai World Championship.
“I was pretty sure I’d get in but if I’d missed the cut in Singapore there might have been a problem but once I made the weekend, it was a different story,” he said. “Now I’ll sit down before I go to Hong Kong, figure out where I am and then think about moving forward from there.”
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.
