After Henrik Stenson moved top last week in Shanghai with just three events remaining in The 2016 Race to Dubai, it’s still a case of anyone’s game in the chase for the coveted title, European Number One.
Masters champion Danny Willett has been almost ever-present at the head of the season-long Rankings since his brilliant victory at Augusta National in early April, but after Stenson – the 2013 European Number One – finished tied second at last week’s WGC-HSBC Champions in China, the Englishman has been relegated to second going into the Final Series.
Race to Dubai champion in each of the last two years, Rory McIlroy, lies more than one million points behind leader Stenson with just the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai still remaining on his 2016 schedule but the Northern Irishman is not yet out of the running either.
On top of that, any player currently inside the top 50 of The Race to Dubai and scheduled to play in all three of the Final Series events can technically still win The 2016 Race to Dubai so it really is wide open.
However, realistically, it is looking like something of a three-horse race for the Harry Vardon Trophy this year.
For McIlroy, the equation is simple; win the DP World Tour Championship for a third time at Jumeirah Golf Estates and hope myriad other results go his way over the next two weeks.
Willett, meanwhile, can secure his first Race to Dubai title with a win in Turkey and runner-up spots at Sun City and in Dubai, even if his closest adversary and Ryder Cup team-mate Stenson wins the final two events of the season.
Stenson, though, will have an opportunity to secure his second Race to Dubai victory at the Nedbank Golf Challenge should Willett not prevail this week in Antalya, otherwise Willett’s fate remains in his own hands.
The Sheffield native will retake pole position with a top five finish at this week’s Turkish Airlines Open.
As well as the race for Number One, there is Rankings interest elsewhere with a number of the 60 spots available in the climactic DP World Tour Championship still set to be decided over the next two weeks.
Meanwhile, the $5 million Bonus Pool will be split between the final top ten in the Rankings after the final putt drops in Dubai so there is plenty of points – and cash – still up for grabs at every level.
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