FLEETWOOD IN RACE TO JOIN GOLFING GREATS
Arriving in Dubai atop the standings, Tommy Fleetwood wants his name inscripted on the season-ending DP World Tour Championship trophy to join the list of some top golfers, who in past editions, garnered glory in the Race to Dubai.
The Englishman, who remains in pole position, heading into the $8 million Rolex Series event, leads the pack with 4,235,987 points.
The current Race to Dubai leader needs to equal or better Justin Rose’s finishing position to stay ahead of the Turkish Airlines Open champion and claim the title. So long as Rose doesn’t finish in the top five and Garcia doesn’t win, Fleetwood will be crowned European Number One.
Even if Rose finds himself in the top five, matching or bettering the Olympic gold medallist would be enough for Fleetwood.
“There’s a list of very, very great players that have won the Race to Dubai. If it’s my turn, then that’s amazing. That’s brilliant, said Fleetwood.
Mattew Fitzpatrick, Rory Mcilroy, Henrik Stenson, Robert Karlsson and Alvaro Quiros have won the crown in the past.
‘PERFECT YEAR-ENDING’
“I would love to add my name to that list. It will be a perfect way to end a year that’s been amazing for me. It would mean a lot.”
Fleetwood, whose only European Tour victory prior to this season came at the 2013 Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, is in perfect form.
“It’s actually an amazing opportunity and it’s a massive privilege to be able to actually be playing.
“Trying to win a Race to Dubai, being around them people that we’ve watched play Majors and big events and play Ryder Cups throughout the year. They have essentially done things that I want to do and this is one of my first experiences in trying to win one of the biggest titles in the world, competing with the very best players in the world. I’m very excited about it,” Fleetwood added.
He picked up titles at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and the HNA Open de France along with a further eight top-ten finishes, including runner-up at the Wgc-mexico Championship and fourth place at the US Open.
“It’s been the biggest year of my career by a long way,” said Fleetwood.
“The goal at the start of the year was to win again as I hadn’t won in over three years. I did that very early on and I was constantly reassessing (my goals) for the first six months because I was on a roll and I just kept having brilliant results,” he added.
Meanwhile, Matthew Fitzpatrick believes his game is trending in the right direction as he prepares to begin the defence of his Dubai title.
The Englishman has been in sparkling form since claiming his fourth European Tour title at the Omega European Masters in September, finishing inside the top 20 in each of his last seven events.