DUBAI // Four players are mathematically still in with a chance of winning the Race to Dubai, as the European Tour season starts its climax at Jumeirah Golf Estates (JGE) on Thursday. Henrik Stenson, who won the DP World Tour Championship in 2013 and 2014, holds all the aces ahead of the tournament.
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1 Henrik Stenson (Sweden) — 4,000,562.92 points
Bearing in mind Stenson has won this tournament twice in the past three years, and holds the championship record low score — the 25-under 263 he shot in 2013 — his position looks impregnable. There will be no need to consult the calculator if he wins again here.
2 Danny Willett (England) — 299,675.03 points behind Stenson
If Willett wins around Earth Course, he will top the money-list, regardless of how Stenson does. He can also win the Race to Dubai if he finishes second, so long as neither Alex Noren nor Stenson win the tournament. He still has a chance if he finishes third or fourth, but it grows increasingly tenuous.
3 Alex Noren (Sweden) — 633,436.42 points behind Stenson
The world No 9 needs a minimum top two finish. If he wins the DP World Tour Championship, Stenson can beat him to the Race to Dubai by finishing second. If Noren is runner up at JGE, he needs Stenson to finish outside the top eight and Willett outside the top two.
4 Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) — 1,176,414.37 points behind Stenson
To end the season as the Tour’s No 1, the world No 2 needs to win the championship with Stenson finishing outside the top 45, Willett outside the top five and Noren outside the top two. A sequence of events the defending champion said himself is “not going to happen.”
