The US Open Championship served up drama, tension and, once the dust had settled on Graeme McDowell’s magnificent victory, a seismic shake-up of The Race to Dubai.
McDowell’s fearless display at Pebble Beach earned the Ulsterman his maiden Major Championship and the not-inconsiderable first prize of €1,123,970 which, combined with the €350,940 he collected for winning the recent Celtic Manor Wales Open, propelled him to the head of The Race to Dubai.
McDowell takes over from long-time leader Ian Poulter, who slips to fourth on €1,396,269, one place above his compatriot Lee Westwood.
Ahead of the English duo is a pair of South Africans, namely Ernie Els and Charl Schwartzel, who occupy the second and third slots on €1,647,112 and €1,423,261 respectively.
Schwartzel already has two European Tour titles to his name this term, and WGC-CA Champion Els came close to joining him on that mark at Pebble Beach, where he briefly held a share of the lead on the final day but ultimately had to settle for third place and a cheque for €400,206.
The man who came closest to denying McDowell victory, Grégory Havret, made the biggest strides in The Race to Dubai, as his runner-up finish saw the flamboyant Frenchman climb from 119th to 13th place – and therefore inside the top 15 who qualify for the Race to Dubai bonus pool at the end of the season.
Another player who performed with distinction in California was Germany’s Martin Kaymer, whose tied eighth finish was his best performance at the US Open Championship and his second best finish at a Major, after his tied sixth at the 2009 US PGA Championship.
The €147,810 Kaymer collected took his season’s earnings to €925,567, and consolidated his place in the top ten. The young German, currently ninth, will now seek to climb higher towards the top spot when he tees up on home soil at this week’s BMW International Open, which he won in 2008.
The top ten is rounded off by the English duo of WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship runner-up Paul Casey (seventh) and Madrid Masters winner Luke Donald (eighth); Trophée Hassan II champion Rhys Davies of Wales (sixth), who has been a revelation in his first season on The European Tour; and swashbuckling Spaniard Alvaro Quiros (tenth), who captured his fourth European Tour title at this year’s Open de España.
Camilo Villegas is currently on €597,804 in 15th place and therefore last in line to receive the bonus pool after the Dubai World Championship, but Spaniard Miguel Angel Jiménez is just €15,019 behind the Colombian.
Further down The Race to Dubai, Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts is the man in possession of 60th, the last position to qualify for the season-ending Dubai World Championship.
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