FLEETWOOD v ROSE FOR DUBAI CROWN
THE Race to Dubai will become a duel in the desert this week as Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Rose go head to head over 72 holes for the considerable honour of finishing the year as the European Tour’s No 1. Both men made the long flight to the Middle East last night with plenty to enthuse about. Fleetwood notched a top 10 in the penultimate event — the Nedbank Challenge won by home favourite Branden Grace — to extend his healthy advantage beyond 250,000 points. The 26-year-old from Southport will be fortified by the knowledge that Rose will need a top-six finish in the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai to stand any chance of catching him. If that sounds a tall order, consider that Rose has been in such regal form recently he’s almost forgotten what it’s like to finish outside the top 10. He didn’t play in the Nedbank, preferring to rest following successive victories in China and Turkey. Before that, he posted a runner-up and three 10th-place finishes in his previous four starts. Fleetwood, who took the lead for the first time in Abu Dhabi in January and has remained in pole position for much of the season, put together gutsy rounds of 67 and 71 at the weekend to move 30 places through the field and earn his reward. Sensibly, he’s not going to spend the next three days thinking about the permutations. ‘You’d drive yourself mad if you went along that road,’ he said. ‘It’s not a burden leading, more a chance of achieving something really special and a good chance at that.’ In theory, third-placed Sergio Garcia could also catch him but in practice it isn’t going to happen. The Spaniard would have to win in Dubai and Fleetwood and Rose finish among the back markers. As for the Nedbank, Grace certainly sent the locals home happy as he closed with a 66 to become the first South African to win the nation’s biggest golf tournament for 10 years. ‘This is the one event that as a South African you want to win,’ said the 29-year-old. ‘It’s Africa’s major for a reason.’ Another man happy with his week’s work was the sweet-swinging runner-up Scott Jamieson, who finished a stroke behind. The 33-year-old Scot not only banked £660,000 for his largest cheque of the season by far, but earned himself a last-minute opportunity to earn more riches in Dubai this week, after moving inside the top 60 players who will contest the finale. Ian Poulter also made it, despite finishing 62nd. He got the call-up after Henrik Stenson joined Rory McIlroy on the injured list.