Race to Dubai heating up at halfway mark as DP World Tour Championship edges closer
With just over six months of the season remaining The Race to Dubai is heating up as The European Tour’s top players jostle for position in a bid to secure their spots in the sixth edition of the prestigious DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.
With only the top 60 available players eligible for the season-ending showcase taking place on the Earth course at Jumeirah Golf Estates from 20-23 November, competition for places is fierce. Currently leading the way is the evergreen Thomas Bjorn who is enjoying a wonderful season having rolled back the clock with some stellar performances. The Dane began his campaign by securing his 15th European Tour title at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa before going on to add a further three top-ten finishes, including a tie for eighth at the Masters Tournament.
Welshman Jamie Donaldson currently occupies second place after again proving he’s the man for the big occasion with runner-up spots in Nedbank Golf Challenge and the WGC-Cadillac Championship.
South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen looks to be back on top form after successfully defending his Volvo Golf Champions title on home soil before reaching the quarterfinals at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and a tied runner-up spot at the Maybank Malaysian Open to move into third position in The Race to Dubai.
Sergio Garcia is playing with a smile on his face again and the Spaniard, who is in fourth place on The Race to Dubai, delighted the crowds at Doha Golf Club with a play-off victory over Mikko Ilonen at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters for his first European Tour title since 2011, while rising star Victor Dubuisson completes The Race to Dubai’s top five after some solid performances including at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship where he was agonisingly edged out at the 23rd hole by Jason Day in the final.
The Frenchman, who picked up his first European Tour title at last year’s Turkish Airlines Open, finished third in last year’s DP World Tour Championship and like all The Race to Dubai’s front runners, he’ll be relishing the opportunity for another shot at the coveted title come November 20.
With the season now in full swing the summer promises to be a captivating one with the big events coming thick and fast and the look of The Race to Dubai table changing on a weekly basis.
EUROPEAN TOUR TOP 10 RACE TO DUBAI RANKINGS AS OF 5 MAY 2014
• Thomas Bjorn €1,202,769
• Jamie Donaldson €1,194,572
• Louis Oosthuizen €1,034,707
• Sergio Garcia €923,085
• Victor Dubuisson €875,354
• Jonas Blixt €712,177
• Charl Schwartzel €701,428
• Miguel Angel Jimenez €671,637
• Stephen Gallacher €655,168
• Lee Westwood €633,158
As well as a place in the DP World Tour Championship to play for, many of The European Tour’s top players also have the small matter of The Ryder Cup on their minds as they push for places on Paul McGinley’s European Team, which will go head to head with Tom Watson’s USA Team at Gleneagles in September.
The European Team will be made up of the top four players on the European Points List followed by the top five players, not already qualified, on the World Points List, with McGinley then selecting three Captain’s Picks to complete the 12-man team. The European Points List sees prize money earned in European Tour events converted to points, with one point allocated for every euro won between the 2013 ISPS Handa Wales Open and the 2014 Italian Open, while the World Points List is worked out according to World Ranking Points earned in events on any Federated Tour between the same period of 26 August, 2013 to 31 August, 2014.
