Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat moved into the top ten in The Race to Dubai with his impressive victory in the inaugural Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play.
The 26 year old continued his fine season, adding a second title of 2015 at Aberdeen’s Murcar Golf Links following his win in the Shenzhen International in China in April.
The 171,000 points Aphibarnrat earned for beating Robert Karlsson by one hole in the final in Scotland lifted him up to ninth place in the season-long list, boosting his chances of claiming part of the newly enhanced Race to Dubai Bonus Pool worth US$6,365,500, which is shared between the top 15 European Tour players at the end of the campaign.
Karlsson, winner of the 2010 DP World Tour Championship on the Earth course at Jumeirah Golf Estates, claimed 116,500 points for his runner-up finish to surge from 130th into 79th place in The Race to Dubai with just under three and half months of the season left to play.
England’s David Howell continued his consistent vein of form to beat Scotsman Marc Warren by one hole in the consolation match to win 67,500 points and move to 17th place in The Race to Dubai.
Meanwhile at the Madeira Islands Open – Portugal – BPI, which was rescheduled from its original date in March, Roope Kakko became only the second Finnish European Tour winner in history after a sensational final round 63 at Clube de Golf do Santo da Serra to win by three shots from Scotland’s Scott Henry.
His winner’s cheque for €100,000 takes his Race to Dubai points for the season to 123,997 and moves him up to 130th place.
Crucially, the two-time Challenge Tour winner gains automatic fully exempt status on The European Tour – until the end of the 2016 season - meaning plenty of opportunities to improve his Race to Dubai position.
Kakko, 33, said: “This is definitely the best moment of my career, but I have to say that it really helped me to have won two years ago on the Challenge Tour in the 2013 National Bank of Oman Golf Classic. I was at a stage where I really needed to win and I did it, and that really helped me today and calmed me down when the pressure was on.”
General admission for the DP World Tour Championship is free of charge and can be obtained by registering online at www.DPWorldTourChampionship.com. Those who register will also be placed into a prize draw with the chance to win a VIP Hospitality package for the Championship Chalet.
