Justin Rose has moved to third place in the Race to Dubai rankings after mounting a stunning comeback to win the WGC-HSBC Champions in China by two shots.
The 37 year old’s tenth European Tour victory of his career sees his points tally for the season swell to just under 3 million, putting him only 190,827 points short of Sergio Garcia who is in second place.
The result means Rose now has a very real chance to challenge Tommy Fleetwood for the top spot in the rankings when the top 60 players in the Race to Dubai meet at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, which takes place at Jumeirah Golf Estates from November 16-19.
Nick Tarratt, Director of the European Tour International Dubai office, said: “Congratulations to Justin Rose on completing his tenth European Tour victory of his career and securing his second World Golf Championship title.
“It’s great to see the competition heating up at the top of the Race to Dubai rankings and I’m sure next month’s season finale here in Dubai will provide a grandstand finish to what has been a fantastic year of golf.”
Rose went in to the final round of the WGC-HSBC Champions at the Shenshan International Golf Club in Shanghai trailing Dustin Johnson by eight shots. However a quiet start, which saw him play his first nine holes at level par, meant the Englishman was still six strokes behind the American teeing off the tenth.
But a truly magnificent performance on the closing nine holes of the championship from Rose which included five birdies meant he signed for a final round 67 to get to 14 under par.
In the end, the tally was two better than Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Henrik Stenson who all finished on 12 under par.
"This is really, really satisfying," said Rose, who now rises to sixth in the Official Golf World Ranking. "All players pride themselves on winning and I've won every year since 2010 (worldwide). I was very aware that that was slipping away from me this year.
"To win a WGC is just amazing, they count for so much on both tours. It's an incredible start to my 2018 PGA Tour campaign and gives me a real shot in the Race to Dubai as well."
Stenson’s joint runner-up finish now puts him on the doorstep of the top ten in the rankings. The two-time DP World Tour Championship winner and two time Race to Dubai champion now moves from 18th to 11th spot in the rankings with a season tally of 1,723,903 points.
Meanwhile defending DP World Tour Championship winner Matthew Fitzpatrick also moved up the rankings with a top ten finish in China. The Englishman secured ninth place to move up one spot to 13th in the Race to Dubai Rankings.
Another man who had made headway in the rankings is Branden Grace. The South African finished in 15th place at the Shenshan International Golf Club to pick up 90,987 points and increase his season tally to 903,406, meaning he’s now moves from 34th to 30th in the Race to Dubai Rankings.
However it’s still the Englishman Tommy Fleetwood who remains at the head of the rankings with 4,050,351 points, whilst Garcia is in second with a season-tally of 3,184,581 points and Rose in third spot on 2,993,754.
