Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre closed out the race for the European Tour’s Rookie of the Year with a top-20 finish at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.
He headed into the week at 11th in Race to Dubai standings and teed it up alongside Kurt Kitayama who was his closest challenger just one spot behind him.
The Scot concluded his final round and finished up in 11th place on the money list which proved to be plenty good enough to see him take the honours and become the first Scot since Marc Warren in 2006 to win the award.
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Kitayama struggled throughout the week and made the task a whole lot easier for MacIntyre. The American finished in solo 48th in the 50-man field to drop to 14th in the overall standings.
Adri Arnaus had an outside chance of pipping the pair of them at the beginning of the week but it was always going to be a tall order. The Spaniard endured a tough weekend and finished at +2 which sees him finish 41st in the standings.
MacIntyre is a deserving recipient of the award and, despite not quite getting over the line for his first victory, he has had a season many a pro would trade for.
In 2019 he has recorded three second places, seven top 10s and a handful of top 30s with a highlight being a tied 6th at the Open in Portrush.
MacIntyre said: “It feels great now that it’s finally over, done and dusted. It’s going to mean a lot to my family more than anyone so I’m delighted to get over the line.
“I didn’t expect a season like this in my first season, I’ve seen friends come on here and struggle and I didn’t think this would happen but I knew my golf game was good enough I just didn’t know whether it was going to turn up. This year has actually been the best I’ve ever played.”
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At this point in 2018 he was 300th in the world and has seen a huge rise through the rankings in his rookie year. Now, he’s eyeing a top 50 spot.
“To be in the top 50 in the world by April – that’s my only goal now. With a good finish this year I’ve opened doors for early next year, which is huge.”