‘Boring’ end to season would suit Fleetwood

Tommy Fleetwood would happily be responsible for a “boring” end to the season as he looks to hold off the inspired challenge of Justin Rose and win the Race to Dubai.

Fleetwood looked home and dry a few weeks ago with nearest rivals Sergio Garcia and Jon Rahm not going out of their way to catch him, but fellow Englishman Rose had other ideas.

The Olympic champion was a distant 10th on the money list before banking more than 2.4 million points with back-to-back victories in the WGC-HSBC Champions and Turkish Airlines Open to slash Fleetwood’s lead to just 134,839.

The good news for Fleetwood is that Rose, after some thought on Sunday evening, has stuck with his planned schedule and will not contest this week’s Nedbank Golf Challenge, meaning Fleetwood is guaranteed to increase his lead in a 72-man event which has no halfway cut.

And a third victory of the season in Sun City would give Fleetwood an unassailable lead in the battle to end the year as European No 1, even if Rose triumphs in the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

“Hats off to Rosey for the way he’s played the last couple of weeks,” Fleetwood said.

“It’s made it an interesting finish but I could make it a lot more boring this week if I have a good week. It’s still kind of in my hands. I’ve got to keep concentrating on what I’m doing .”

Five Scots are in the field – Richie Ramsay, Stephen Gallacher, Marc Warren, Scott Jamieson and David Drysdale.