With just ten days to go until the inaugural Race to Dubai reaches its thrilling climax at the Dubai World Championship presented by: DP World, the battle to be crowned Europe’s Number One will be fought out on two fronts this week.
The simultaneous staging of the UBS Hong Kong Open and the JBWere Masters means golfing fans will be spoilt for choice, and both tournaments seem set to have a big bearing on who succeeds Sweden’s Robert Karlsson as Europe’s top golfer.
England’s Lee Westwood and Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, currently first and second in The Race to Dubai, go head to head in Hong Kong, whilst seventh-placed Geoff Ogilvy of Australia will hope home advantage helps in his attempts to tame Tiger Woods and make up some ground on the top two.
Moreover, all three protagonists come into the event in fine form, having finished inside the top ten at last week’s WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai, China.
With just €52,320 now separating Westwood and McIlroy at the top of the tree, and with US$2.5million (approximately €1,668,163) up for grabs in Hong Kong, a second victory of the season for either man would render them red-hot favourites to claim the US$1.5million bonus prize on offer to the winner of the inaugural Race to Dubai.
“It certainly gives me a lot of momentum going into the next two weeks,” said McIlroy, who finished second at last year’s UBS Hong Kong Open after a thrilling sudden-death play-off with Lin Wen-tang.
“I’m feeling a lot better about my game than I was at the start of last week, and hopefully this is a bit of a springboard into the next two weeks – I am looking forward to it now.”
But with Germany’s Martin Kaymer and the English duo of Ross Fisher and Paul Casey all taking the week off, and with Casey likely to be ruled out of the Dubai World Championship after suffering a recurrence of his rib injury last week, 2006 US Open champion Ogilvy could still have a big say as he seeks to steal a march on his nearest rivals with a strong showing in his home town of Melbourne.
With season’s earnings of €1,673,814, Ogilvy is currently €730,765 behind Westwood (who leads on €2,404,579), but a second European Tour title of the season for the reigning WGC-Accenture Match Play champion would see him surge into contention.
However, with World Number One Tiger Woods of America also in action at Kingston Heath Golf Club, Ogilvy will have to be on top form if he is to claim the first prize.
Further down The Race to Dubai, the battle to secure one of the all-important 60 places available at the $7.5million Dubai World Championship is likely to be fought just as fiercely.
The Welsh trio of Bradley Dredge, Jamie Donaldson and Stephen Dodd, as well as China’s Wen-chong Liang, will all be staring nervously over their shoulders this week as they currently fill places 57-60 in The Race to Dubai.
With all four players teeing up in Fanling – Donaldson was the last man in the field – nerves are sure to be frayed in the Hong Kong heat.
Looking to take advantage of any slip-ups are a whole host of winners on The 2009 European Tour International Schedule, including: Denmark’s Jeppe Huldahl (currently 62nd in The Race to Dubai), Frenchman Christian Cevaër (65th), the Swedish duo of Oskar Henningsson and Michael Jonzon (respectively 66th and 67th), and Argentina’s Ricardo Gonzalez (70th).
Similarly, multiple European Tour champions Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland and Spaniard Ignacio Garrido, currently 63rd and 64 on the money list, will also hope to bring their considerable experience to bear when they tee up in Hong Kong.
Over in Melbourne, meanwhile, defending champion Rodney Pampling (69th in The Race to Dubai) will join his compatriots Marcus Fraser (71st) and Richard Green (72nd) in trying to boost their Ranking positions to secure their places at the star-studded Dubai World Championship, which will be held at Jumeirah Golf Estates from November 19-22.
The tournament, hosted by Nakheel Leisure, will see the top 60 qualifiers compete for the first time on the new Greg Norman-designed Earth course, which was completed in January this year and is now in Championship condition, ready to host the world’s top golfers.
The showpiece event has attracted 70,000 registrations for free tickets, which are still available by registering online
here
As preparations gather pace grandstands have now been erected, while the finishing touches are being added to the Championship Village, which will offer a range of entertainment for the whole family away from the on-course action including live bands, free golf lessons and a Kid’s Zone.
