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Fishers win shakes up Race to Dubai
4 November 2009
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Ross Fisher’s victory at the Volvo World Match Play Championship last weekend ensured The Race to Dubai remains wide open as we head into the final four events.
The most exciting climax to a season in years is in the offing after Fisher won €750,000 to jump into fourth place on €2,066,014 and narrow the gap to Race to Dubai Rankings leader Lee Westwood to just €239,301. Martin Kaymer and Rory McIlroy, second and third with €2,204,678 and €2,140,270 respectively, are also firmly in the mix, as is Paul Casey, recently back in action after a lengthy spell out with a rib injury.
All four, plus the rest of the top 15 minus Angel Cabrera, will be in action this week at the WGC-HSBC Champions, where the US$7million prize fund may have a major impact on The Race to Dubai’s outcome.
Next week Westwood, McIlroy and Casey will look to take advantage of Fisher and Kaymer having a rest week when they play the UBS Hong Kong Open, before the 2009 season comes to a head at the inaugural Dubai World Championship from November 19-22.
With so many players still in with a realistic chance of claiming the Harry Vardon Trophy this year, the battle for prize money has intensified in recent weeks. McIlroy’s runner-up finish at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship pushed him ahead of Kaymer and into first place, but the Northern Irishman’s lead lasted less than a week before Westwood clinched the Portugal Masters to edge out in front.
Westwood is the bookies’ favourite to be crowned Europe’s Number One but it really is too close to call, and the different permutations will make for a scintillating atmosphere over the next two and a half weeks. There could even be an upset if a player outside the top five wins in Shanghai this week and then follows it with more success in Dubai. Ian Poulter is on a high after winning the Barclays Singapore Open last weekend and his chances should not be written off.
The top 60 players in The Race to Dubai Rankings will qualify for the inaugural event on the Greg Norman-designed Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, and the battle to be part of such a lucrative tournament is equally intense further down the money list.
Adam Scott was 68th last week but a fine performance at the Barclays Singapore Open moved him up to 44th, while Stephen Dodd (60th), Liang Wen-chong (63rd) and Ben Curtis (75th) are in need of a good finish in Hong Kong to be able to book their ticket to the season finale in Dubai.
Darren Clarke dropped out of the top 60 last week to 62nd and is not playing this week, but he can sneak back in with some decent prize money in the Far East. Clarke said:
“I’ve been here, there and everywhere the last few weeks, trying like mad to work my way up The Race to Dubai. I have to do everything I possibly can to qualify.”
