The battle to finish number one in the 2016 Race to Dubai intensifies when a host of the world’s top golfers head to Shanghai for the final regular season event, the WGC - HSBC Champions.
The current top three in the Race to Dubai are all scheduled to compete in the tournament at Sheshan International Golf Course from October 27-30.
Reigning Masters Champion Danny Willett is the front runner, followed by Henrik Stenson and Rory McIlroy, but in-form Swede Alex Noren also has his sights set on top spot after victory at the British Masters supported by Sky Sports saw him jump from ninth to fourth position.
A total of 43 European Tour members form part of the strongest field yet at Sheshan, which includes 42 of the top 50 players in the world, eight of the world’s top ten, all of the year’s Major Championship winners, and 19 stars from The 2016 Ryder Cup.
Race to Dubai leader Willett will be aiming to stay ahead of his challengers by picking up where he left off at last year’s tournament. The Englishman tied for third place to seal his best ever finish, thanks to a stunning final round 62, including ten birdies.
After wins in the lucrative Nedbank Golf Challenge and the Omega European Masters in 2015, Willet pushed McIlroy all the way in the Race to Dubai, before enjoying the finest moment of his career with victory at the 2016 Masters Tournament, becoming the first Englishman to don the Green Jacket for 20 years.
Stenson is aiming to finish a stellar 2016 season in style. Victory at the BMW International Open kicked-off a red-hot summer that included a record-breaking first Major – his 72 hole total of 264 at the 145th Open Championship at Royal Troon is the lowest winning total in Major Championship history - and a silver medal at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Alongside McIlroy, the Swede was one of six players who finished 11th at the 2015 HSBC Champions, his best ever finish at the tournament.
Of the leading Race to Dubai trio, McIlroy has by far the best record at the WGC - HSBC Champions with top six finishes in four of his five appearances. The Northern Irishman began the week with food poisoning in 2015, but rallied to finish with an impressive 66 and tie for 11th place, on the way to a glorious Dubai double as he won the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai and with it the Race to Dubai for the second time.
He has proved to be the man to watch this season with three European Tour wins so far, but Noren will need to improve his record at Sheshan to increase the pressure on the top three. The 2016 Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open, Omega European Masters and British Masters champion finished 54th in 2015, and his best placing was 19th in the first of his three previous appearances in 2009.
