Jon Rahm is skipping the European Tour’s Race to Dubai finale, giving up on the chance to win the season-long points title for the second time in three years.
The future looks brighter. Early doubts that the evolution of the European Tour’s strategic alliance with the PGA Tour would be more likely to enhance the stature of the latter at the expense of the former have been appeased.
In order to maintain the performance targets set at the start of the season, the tour will recognise a new top 110 from the Race to Dubai and a new top 20 from the Challenge Tour.
Seven days on from winning last week’s Alfred Dunhill Championship, the 26-year-old South African added his national title to an already burgeoning resume with victory in the South African Open at Sun City.
At the start of the year, McIlroy followed his usual practice of writing down various goals. In just about all of them he has, statistically at least, surpassed his original targets.
Scrivener’s jump of 24 spots to 35th in the Race to Dubai standings elevated him into the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai for the first time in his career.
Fleetwood’s final round included three eagles and three back-nine bogeys, a lucky kick off a sprinkler head and a deft chip on the first playoff hole to set up a winning par putt.
A solo second-place finish at the tournament was worth $US828,000, but because you had to add the prizemoney for the third, fourth, fifth and sixth places, then divide the aggregate among the five players, the amount was diluted.
For the first time on the European Tour since 2003, there were six starters in a sudden-death – and ultimately floodlit – playoff for the Turkish Airlines Open title.
“European No.1” might be a nice moniker to own, but it doesn’t appear as if too many members of the tour’s elite are prepared to labour in its pursuit.
Australian Golf Digest
