EUROPEAN TOUR ROLEX SERIES - DP WORLD TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP, DUBAI

EUROPEAN TOUR

ROLEX SERIES

Race to Dubai

Past Winner

Jon RAHM (ESP) 2017.

Date:15.-18. Nov. 2018.
Tournament Name: DP WORLD TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP, DUBAI
Course:  Jumeirah Golf Estates (PAR 72)
Venue: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Prize Fund:$7,500,000

Players:72.

15. Nov.

Round 1.

Leader: Otaegui Adrian (Esp) and  Smith Jordan (Eng)

Score: 66. (-6)

Jordan Smith and Adrian Otaegui shared the lead after day one of the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai as Francesco Molinari tightened his grip on the European Tour's season-long crown.

Smith and Otaegui carded rounds of 66 at Jumeirah Golf Estates to sit at six under, one shot clear of defending champion Jon Rahm and Major Championship winner Danny Willett.

Italian Molinari knows a tie for fifth with one other or better will secure him the Race to Dubai title and he was just a shot further back after a 68 on the Earth Course.

Defending champion Tommy Fleetwood needs a victory at the eighth and final Rolex Series event of the season to have any chance of denying Molinari, and the Englishman was three shots off the lead after a 69.

English pair Ross Fisher and Matt Wallace, Chinese Li Haotong and Belgian Thomas Pieters were alongside Molinari at four under.

Leaderboard

16. Nov.
Round 2.

Leader: Wallace Matthew (Eng)
Score: 133. (-11)

Matt Wallace carded an excellent bogey-free 65 to take a one-shot lead into the weekend at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.

The Englishman is looking for a fourth European Tour title of the season and a first Rolex Series victory but he had an elite chasing pack behind him at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

Countryman Danny Willett fired a 67 to sit in second at ten under alongside first-round leaders Adrian Otaegui and Jordan Smith, with reigning Masters Champion Patrick Reed a further shot back after a bogey-free 66.

In the battle to be crowned Europe's Number One, Tommy Fleetwood needs a win this week to have a chance of successfully defending his Race to Dubai title and he was at eight under after a 67.

The Englishman also needs Francesco Molinari to finish outside of the top five, with a 73 leaving the Open Champion eight shots off the lead.

Leaderboard

17. Nov.
Round 3.

Leader: Reed Patrick (Usa) and Willett Danny (Eng)
Score: 202. (-14)

Danny Willett and Patrick Reed will share the lead heading into the final round of the 2018 European Tour season as the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai was set for a dramatic finish at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

Reigning Masters Tournament Champion Reed made four birdies in six holes on the back nine to sign for a 67 and set the target at 14 under, with Willett making three in a row from the 14th to join him with a 68 at the eighth Rolex Series event of the season.

England's Jordan Smith produced a big finish of his own to get to 13 under, one shot clear of fellow Englishmen Matt Wallace and Lee Westwood, and South African Dean Burmester.

In the battle to win the Race to Dubai, Francesco Molinari was on course to take the title, with closest rival Tommy Fleetwood eight shots off the lead and needing a win.

Leaderboard

18. ov.
FINAL ROUND

WINNER: Willett Danny (Eng)
Score: 270.(-18)

Danny Willett made a triumphant return of the winner's circle as Francesco Molinari was crowned Europe's Number One on a dramatic final day of the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.

Englishman Willett had the world at his feet in April 2016 as he claimed a maiden Major Championship at the Masters Tournament but when he arrived this week at Jumeirah Golf Estates, that remained the last time he had tasted victory.

Injuries and an admitted lack of form saw him drop as low as 462nd in the Official World Golf Ranking but a closing 68 in Dubai means he is now a Rolex Series champion and back on the way up.

Willett made three birdies in his last five holes to get to 18 under, two shots clear of fellow Englishman Matt Wallace and reigning Masters Champion Patrick Reed.

Defending champion Jon Rahm was then at 14 under alongside fellow Spaniard Adrian Otaegui and South African Dean Burmester.

Final Results

Francesco Molinari has completed the season of his life after being crowned Europe's Number One at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.

The Italian won his maiden Major Championship in July at The Open, adding to his first Rolex Series victory at the BMW PGA Championship.

Those triumphs coupled with incredibly consistent performances throughout the year meant that only a victory for defending champion Tommy Fleetwood at Jumeirah Golf Estates could possibly deny Molinari the Race to Dubai title.

A closing 68 was not enough to move the Englishman to the summit on the Earth Course and Molinari is now the first Italian to be crowned the European Tour's top player.

The 36 year old also made Ryder Cup history in Europe's famous victory at Le Golf National in October, becoming the first European to win five points out of five.