Rose looks to recreate Valderrama Masters magic
The Race to Dubai title is a three-way race involving Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia.
While Garcia and Fleetwood would be facing added pressure to finish ahead of Rose, for the world number six this is familiar territory.
Rose, who is 256,737 points behind leader Fleetwood, has seen it all before, and finishing in second place on his own would be enough to claim the prize as long as compatriot Fleetwood does not win.
Rose has done it before, historically winning the final event of the 2007 season in a play-off at the Valderrama Masters, to overtake Ernie Els to become Order of Merit Champion for the first time.
Victory here this week would seal a second Race to Dubai title for the Englishman exactly ten years after wrapping up his first by winning the season-ending Volvo Masters at Valderrama.
“It’s actually a very similar situation,” said the US Open winner.
“At Valderrama in 2007, mathematically I think I could have maybe finished second or third, but went ahead and won the tournament. It’s probably something fairly similar this week.
“But at the end of the day, to win the Race to Dubai, I have to contend in this tournament one way or another. I need to finish towards the top end of the leaderboard, and if you’re going to finish at the top end of the leaderboard, you may as well focus on trying to win the tournament.”
RIDING HIGH ON FORM
Riding high after claiming backto-back victories at the WGC-HSBC Champions and the Turkish Airlines Open, the Englishman also has a solid chance of overtaking Fleetwood.
Instead of positioning himself as the potential winner, Rose, who has finished second twice in Dubai including 2012 and 2014, said, “The objective is quite simple and quite clear. It’s all about putting myself in a position, and then getting it done when you have that chance.”
For Garcia, who is slightly further back at 3,184,582 points, the task is straight-forward but by no means easy. To have any chance of overtaking Rose and Fleetwood, the Masters champion would need to win at Jumeirah Golf Estates. That, along with Fleetwood finishing outside of the top 11 and Rose finishing solo fourth or worse, would see the Spaniard complete one of the most dramatic final event comebacks the Race to Dubai has ever witnessed.
Garcia has finished inside the top 25 in all six of his appearances as this event but has never finished in the top five. His best performance was a tied seventh place finish in the inaugural DP World Tour Championship in 2009.