Rahm follows in Seve’s footsteps with Race to Dubai win
The European Tour’s season-long Race to Dubai reached a thrilling conclusion in Dubai at the DP World Tour Championship where Jon Rahm secured victory.
Bernd Wiesberger led the way heading into the final event of the European Tour season but could be caught by four other players, including Rahm.
The Dubai Double! 🏆🏆@JonRahmpga wins the #DPWTC and #RacetoDubai! pic.twitter.com/A9Flg8PWWy
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) November 24, 2019
There were several possible scenarios which would see the title of Europe’s No. 1 golfer heading to the various candidates and it wasn’t until the final putt was holed that the winner was decided.
With Wiesberger finishing early on Sunday in tied 28th, the door was open for Rahm or Tommy Fleetwood if either could win the event.
For the entirety of the front-nine it looked as if Rahm was a nailed on champion but things changed on the back. Fleetwood rallied and tied the lead on his final hole leaving Rahm needing a birdie at the 18th to win.
At that point, we looked set for a play-off to settle not only the winer of the DP World Tour Championship but also the Race to Dubai.
But a classy up-and-down from the bunker from the Spaniard saw him seal the double in the desert.
Rahm becomes just the second Spaniard to win the season-long competition adding his name alongside that of Seve Ballesteros.
What an honour to win the #RacetoDubai and follow one of my all-time heroes into European Tour history!#DPWTC #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/Hzsq1LhVzT
— Jon Rahm Rodriguez (@JonRahmpga) November 24, 2019
The top-5 in the standings qualified for the Race to Dubai bonus pool and as you may guess this meant a nice pay day for those five guys.
Rahm collected $2,000,000 for topping the standings as well as a huge $3,000,000 for winning the season-ending tournament.
Fleetwood’s work saw him leapfrog Wiesberger and take away $1,200,000 leaving the Austrian with $700,000 for third.
Shane Lowry ($600,000) and Matt Fitzpatrick ($500,000) occupied the last two places and an eagle at the last for Fitzpatrick ensured that Rory McIlroy wouldn’t be able to take his place.
The other race concluding this week was the Rookie of the Year contest in which Robert MacIntyre was able to get the better of Kurt Kitayama.
Joe Hughes
Tour editor covering men's golf, women's golf and anything else that involves the word golf, really. The talk is far better than the game, but the work has begun to change that.
