Thomas Björn strengthened his position in The Race to Dubai bonus pool positions with his third victory of the season in the Omega European Masters, while Rory McIlroy and Martin Kaymer both kept up the pressure on leader Luke Donald following top three finishes in Crans-sur-Sierre.
Björn’s victory in Switzerland, his second consecutive European Tour triumph following his win in the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles the previous week, moved him up one position into seventh place in The Race to Dubai, overtaking Open Champion Darren Clarke.
The Dane has earned €1,381,444 so far this season, already making it his fourth most lucrative campaign in 16 seasons on The European Tour with more than three months of the season, and the $7,500,000 Dubai World Championship presented by DP World, still to play.
“I’ve moved up a place in The Race to Dubai and I want to end the season strongly,” said the 40 year old. “I’m in a good position. I’m a bit off the lead obviously but I’m in a position where I can get a large part of the bonus pool.
“To win three times in one season is a marvellous achievement and I’ve reached a good level of consistency now. Hopefully I can continue that through to the Dubai World Championship.”
McIlroy also moved up one position in The Race to Dubai with his share of third place behind Björn in the Omega European Masters. The US Open Champion is now second in the season standings and although he is €1,739,404 behind Donald, he feels he can still challenge the Englishman with a strong end to the season.
“I feel healthy after the wrist injury - I feel 100 per cent and that’s a positive sign heading towards the end of the season,” said the Northern Irishman.
With Masters Champion Charl Schwartzel in third position, Kaymer’s second place finish in Switzerland meant the German leapfrogged Lee Westwood into fourth in The Race to Dubai, which he won in 2010. Kaymer is also confident he can put pressure on Donald over the remainder of the season.
“I’m defending in the KLM Open this week where I’ve won before and then I’m defending in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and I’m playing well at the moment so I’m hoping for a strong end to the season,” he said.
South African Jaco Van Zyl moved into the top 60 positions that will earn a spot in the end of season Dubai World Championship presented by DP World courtesy of his tied third place at Crans-sur-Sierre. Van Zyl is up to 44th position from 66th.
