The 2018 European Tour season comes to its conclusion at this week's DP World Tour Championship, Dubai and there is still plenty to play for.
All eyes will be on Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood as they battle it out to win the Race to Dubai, and here we take a look at that and some of the other storylines that could develop at Jumeirah Golf Estates.
Molinari caps off his dream season
Francesco Molinari has enjoyed an incredible 2018 so far, claiming a first Rolex Series victory at the BMW PGA Championship and then breaking his Major duck at the Open Championship. As if that was not enough, he became the first European in history to win five points out of five at a Ryder Cup and somewhat fittingly secured the winning point for Thomas Bjørn's men. He heads into the final event of the season knowing that a tie for fifth with one other or better would see him become the first Italian to be crowned Europe's Number One but you would be a brave man to bet against him winning it all, with four previous top tens on the Earth Course. It would be a fitting end to a sensational season.
Big finish hands Fleetwood the crown
The only person who can catch Molinari is defending Race to Dubai champion Tommy Fleetwood, but he needs a win and for his great friend to do him a favour. A successful defence of his Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA title got 2018 off to a flying start and he fired a history-making 63 in the final round en route to finishing second at the US Open Championship. Four consecutive top tens have edged him closer to Molinari and a victory for him with his rival in a tie for fifth with two others or worse would see Fleetwood make it back-to-back Races to Dubai and join a list that includes Seve Ballesteros, Sandy Lyle, Colin Montgomerie, Retief Goosen, Ernie Els and Rory McIlroy. Couple all that with winning four points out of five on his Ryder Cup debut and Fleetwood will have had a remarkable 2018.
Sharma wins Rookie of the Year
Shubhankar Sharma entered the 2018 season as a relative unknown but after a top ten at the season-opening UBS Hong Kong Open he did not look back and had soon made a big name for himself. He claimed a maiden European Tour title at the Joburg Open and soon had a second after a stunning closing 62 in Malaysia handed him the Maybank Championship. A top ten on his World Golf Championships debut in Mexico elevated his status even higher and he was handed a special invitation to the Masters Tournament. The Indian started the season outside the top 500 in the Official World Golf Ranking but has been as high as 64th and lifting the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year trophy would be a just reward for his season.
Westwood makes it back-to-back wins
Lee Westwood's position as a European Tour great was already assured before he teed it up at last week's Nedbank Golf Challenge hosted by Gary Player. He arrived in South Africa with two Orders of Merit and 23 wins but at the age of 45 and without a European Tour triumph in four years, he admitted he was not sure if he would taste victory again. A closing 64 at Gary Player Country Club handed him win number 24 and this week he returns to the scene of number 20 - the inaugural DP World Tour Championship in 2009. The Englishman's game has been trending in the right direction of late and if he can make it back-to-back Rolex Series wins at Jumeirah Golf Estates, he will head into 2019 back to his brilliant best. Maybe that elusive Major is yet to come?
McIlroy finishes with a flourish
It shows the sort of standards Rory McIlroy sets that even a victory this week would see him only rank his 2018 season as a B. He began the campaign with two top fives on the Desert Swing and then went out in the final group on Sunday at the Masters Tournament, securing a fifth consecutive top ten in the year's opening Major as he chases the career Grand Slam. He finished second at the BMW PGA Championship and the Open Championship but when you are Rory McIlroy, the bar is set at victories. The last of his 13 European Tour wins came over two years ago, a run that could be considered a drought by the Northern Irishman's stratospheric standards. He will be confident of ending it this week, however, as he arrives at an event where he has two wins and has only finished outside the top five twice in eight appearances. A McIlroy triumph will set the golfing world abuzz, and all eyes will turn to Augusta National once again.
