DUBAI // Not to split hairs, but the flags festooning the landscape at the European Tour’s season finale this week turned out to be misleading, not to mention dated.
Dozens of banners are draped from flagpoles surrounding Jumeirah Golf Estates, from the roadways to the practice areas, emblazoned with the words, “The Race Ends Here”.
In fact, the Race to Dubai title was secured last week by world No 1 Rory McIlroy, whose lead in the season-long points race is insurmountable. Which is not to suggest that the other numbers at this week’s DP World Championship is anything to take lightly.
The tournament purse is a whopping US$8 million (Dh29.4m), the largest windfall among regular events on the European circuit.
Extra Time podcast: John McAuley and Aaron Gray discuss Rory McIlroy’s chances of a Dubai win.
The event winner on Sunday night will pocket a princely $1.2m, more cash than a month of some early season events offer their winners. Then there is the paradoxical funny money, which is serious stuff, too.
The bonus pool for the points race, the spice in the proverbial cauldron, was hiked by one-third this year, to $5m, with 15 players set for payment for their seasonal performance. Only the top 10 received bonus money last year.
“I hadn’t really thought about the bonus money,” said rookie Brooks Koepka, who won last week in Turkey and moved to sixth on the points list.
He might be the only one.
Not surprisingly, the longer-tenured players were eyeing the tournament title and bonus bucks like piranhas in bloodied waters.
Swedish star Henrik Stenson, the defending tournament and Race to Dubai champion, stands second in points.
Forget McIlroy, a victory for Stenson on Sunday would result in a $2m payday. Even in an era of plentiful purses, that is a gulp-inducing windfall.
“I know it can’t be as special this year, because Rory has already won the overall race,” Stenson said. “But I can make it a very special week for myself by playing well here and hopefully give myself a chance to win.”
Ian Poulter, who two weeks ago was 64th in points, has climbed to 13th and has an outside shot at the combined $2m payday, too, depending on certain prescribed outcomes.
In fact, Poulter yesterday checked the points list with a tour official to ensure that he could still finish second.
Rest assured that the cash portion of that equation required no explanation or confirmation.
“I know that bit of it,” the Englishman said. “Oh, yeah, second’s on – bring it on.”
In other words, while McIlroy removed the possibility of any competitor claiming the Dubai double, a la Stenson last year, there are other salient plot points.
“It is still a massive tournament,” said Jamie Donaldson, who scored the winning point at the Ryder Cup.
Indeed, any player finishing in the top 15 on the points list will take home at least $100,000.
The points this week are doubled, letting even more players into the mix for the $800,000 bonus, including Koepka, who nearly won the city’s other European Tour event, the Dubai Desert Classic, in February.
Koepka was leading that tournament with five holes to play before Stephen Gallacher torched the back nine and lapped the field. Koepka, 24, finished in a tie for third.
“Oh, yeah, I remember,” said Koepka, who is sixth on the points list and will play today alongside Sergio Garcia, who is fifth.
Poulter, in the middle of his now-traditional late-season run, has twice finished second at the Dubai finale and missed a six-footer on the 72nd hole last week in Turkey that would have forced a play-off with Koepka.
He might be the one guy in the field who does not want the season to end.
After a nagging wrist injury and some forgettable play, Poulter has rallied from 44th in the world ranking to 26th. A solid week would make the off-season much easier to stomach.
“I’m very disappointed, but I’m over it,” Poulter said of last week’s result.
“I’m moving on to this week. I feel good about what’s just happened in the last couple of weeks and, hopefully, with a big win this week, I can put myself back in a position where I salvage something out of 2014, because it was not looking good.
“So there are lots of positives out of the last couple of weeks and that for me is actually quite exciting.”
Poulter finished second to Stenson in the points race in 2013 and has made a habit of playing well in the Asian events towards the end of the season.
Stenson had to finish a tournament-record 25 under to beat Poulter last year and the pair enjoyed every moment of the week, trading verbal barbs and trash talk.
Rory is not the only story. Just the primary one.
“So, No 1 is gone,” Poulter said, “but there’s still a big bonus for No 2, and that would upset No 2 right now, which is whom?”
He already knew the answer. “I’m still chasing Mr Stenson,” Poulter said.
Of course, they are all chasing McIlroy, who won four times this season, including two majors. The difference being that, in the overall view, he cannot be caught.
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