FLEETWOOD, RAHM HERO HEADLINE FINALE
The European Tour’s experiment to popularise golf with the fast- paced Hero Challenge knockout will reach a climax on Tuesday. Eight European Tour stars, four of them inside world the top- 20 will go head to head at the Nassimi Beach under floodlights at the iconic Atlantis Hotel in Dubai.
Spearheaded by Tommy Fleetwood, current leader on the European Tour Order of Merit, the lineup includes Spanish sensation and world no. 5 Jon Rahm, no. 16 Swede Alex Noren, no. 20 Rafa Cabrera- Bello of Spain and Italian Francesco Molinari, the no. 21.
The three others are Ryder Cup Belgian star Thomas Pieters, China’s Li Haotong, who stunned the golfing fraternity with his third place at the British Open at Royal Birkdale and charismatic Englishman Ian Poulter.
The Hero Challenge, after making its way through earlier events at the Aberdeen Asset Management Socttish Open and The British Masters, concludes at Dubai. The event made its debut at the British Masters in 2016.
Players will tee off from a specially created platform and aim for a target floating in the ocean. Making it dramatic for prime time viewing will be pyrotechnics and a runway of lights leading into the ocean will illuminate the target.
The event will be streamed live through the European Tour’s social media platform and Twitter.
The field: Jon Rahm ( Esp, world no. 5); Alex Noren ( Swe, 16); Tommy Fleetwood ( Eng,. 19); Rafa Cabrera- Bello ( Esp, 20); Francesco Molinari ( Ita, 21); Thomas Pieters ( Bel, 35); Ian Poulter ( Eng, 54) and Li Haotong ( Chn, 58).