Thorbjørn Olesen books spot at DP World Tour Championship Dubai after stunning Perth win
Thorbjørn Olesen won the ISPS HANDA Perth International by three strokes over Victor Dubuisson to secure his spot at the Earth course for the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai at Jumeirah Golf Estates which will take place from Thursday 20 to Sunday 23 November. With the second European Tour win of his career, the 24-year-old Dane now has €613,150 in prize money to move from 64th to 42nd in The Race to Dubai rankings. He is all set to play in his fourth DP World Tour Championship, where his best finish came last year after he ended the tournament tied for 17th place.
“It’s been a couple of years since I won last time, so this gives me a lot of confidence and belief for the last bit of the season,” said Olesen, whose only other win on Tour came at the 2012 Sicilian Open. “This has been a great week and I’ve really enjoyed being here.”
Olesen went into the final round at Lake Karrinyup in Perth ahead by three shots but a nervy start to the back-nine saw his lead cut to just one and with Dubuisson setting the clubhouse mark at 14 under par, things were looking tight at the top of the leaderboard.
But Olesen made clutch birdies on 13 and 15 to regain his cushion on top and eventually finished on 17 under par, three shots in front of runner-up Dubuisson.
“I missed a few short putts today in the middle of the round and I think that the lead got down to one shot, but I was just thinking about getting my round back to under par, keeping focussed, and seeing if I could make a few birdies coming in,” Olesen said.
“It was a tough day but it was worth it – that walk down 18 was beautiful.”
Frenchman Dubuisson’s flawless final round of 66 was only enough for him to take second spot as he now moves up one place from seventh to sixth in The Race to Dubai rankings.
With a solid 12 under par total, England’s Mark Foster finished third in Perth to leapfrog from 88th to 70th in The Race to Dubai. Foster will need a strong showing in The Final Series to book his ticket to Dubai for next month’s season finale at Jumeirah Golf Estates.
The top 10 European Tour Race to Dubai Rankings as of 26 October following the ISPS HANDA Perth International:
1. Rory MCILROY €5,400,699
2. Sergio GARCIA €2,275,712
3. Henrik STENSON €1,941,230
4. Jamie DONALDSON €1,890,558
5. Thomas BJORN €1,780,152
6. Victor DUBUISSON €1,683,899
7. Martin KAYMER €1,570,936
8. Justin ROSE €1,503,781
9. Joost LUITEN €1,500,777
10. Mikko ILONEN €1,483,208
