Rising star Matthew Fitzpatrick marked the long-awaited return to The European Tour of the British Masters supported by Sky Sports with a classy victory that earned him a bumper 671,549 Race to Dubai points and saw him surge up to 12th in the season-long rankings with a total of 1,353,190 points.
The 21-year-old Englishman, who moved from 111th to 59th in the Official World Golf Ranking, proved to be a fitting winner as the much-loved British Masters returned at Woburn Golf Club after a seven-year hiatus, securing his maiden European Tour title by two strokes from Søren Kjeldsen, Shane Lowry and Fabrizio Zanotti with a 15 under par total of 269 in front of a delighted home crowd. The ‘golf in Dubai’ Ambassador, who was the youngest player in the field, will be sure to attract keen interest when he makes his debut appearance at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai taking place at Jumeirah Golf Estates from Thursday November 19 to Sunday November 22.
“This year my goal was to keep my card, and to be honest, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to do that after the start of my year,” said The European Tour rookie, a former US Amateur Champion who is coached by Pete Cowen. “But I managed to start playing well and making more cuts and just picking up cheques, and then in the past two months, I guess, I really got going. I made a lot of money and was able to secure my card in The Race to Dubai, it’s great.”
Paraguay’s Zanotti booked his place in Dubai’s season finale after claiming 300,464 points for his runner-up finish to move from 81st to 43rd in The Race to Dubai while WGC-Bridgestone Invitational winner Lowry moved from sixth place to fourth and Denmark’s Kjeldsen moved into the top ten at ninth.
The top 60 players in The Race to Dubai qualify for November’s prestigious US$8million showcase in Dubai with a Race to Dubai Bonus Pool of US$5 million divided between the top 15 players in The Race to Dubai rankings following the conclusion of tournament, as well as an additional US$1,365,500 for those players competing in at least three events on the Final Series.
Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy (3,012,000 points) still leads The Race to Dubai with Englishman Danny Willett (2,740,786 points) hot on his heels in the battle to be crowned European Number One.
The DP World Tour Championship gets underway on Earth course at Jumeirah Golf Estates in just under two months. General admission is free of charge and can be obtained by registering online atwww.DPWorldTourChampionship.com. Those who register will also be placed into a prize draw with the chance to win a VIP Hospitality package for the Championship Chalet.
