Going for glory
Sharja, Thursday
Patrick Reed will “leave it all out there” as he tries to become the first American to win the European Tour’s Race to Dubai title this weekend.
The 2018 Masters champion is leading the standings, so victory at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai will see him achieve “a career goal”.
In theory, a large percentage of the 65-strong field could claim the title.
But Tommy Fleetwood, Lee Westwood and Collin Morikawa are the only other ones guaranteed to do so if they win.
Englishman Fleetwood is in second place, 460 points behind Reed, with 2,000 points going to the winner as the European Tour reaches its now traditional climax at the Jumeriah Golf Estates’ Earth Course.
“It’s the end of what’s been a difficult year for everyone, really, but we’ve been very lucky having a lot of events and having a chance to play,” said Fleetwood, who was crowned European number one in 2017.
World number 11
“It’s another year where I’ve got the enjoyment of playing for both titles, which is exciting.”
Reed, the world number 11, finished runner-up to Danny Willett in 2018 and has also recorded two top 10s in four appearances in the Race to Dubai finale.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to not only win on the PGA Tour but also on The European Tour, and to win the FedExCup as well as The Race to Dubai,” said the 30-year-old.
“To be able to get one of those goals that I’ve had set for my career, especially this early, would be great.”
He won the WGC-Mexico Championship in February to go top of the standings and returned to the summit in October when he finished joint third at the BMW Championship at Wentworth.American Morikawa is in contention because of his first major win, at the US PGA Championship, but the 22-year-old has already signed up for next year’s European Tour as he looks to develop his game.
“I want to be a world player,” he said. “I want to be able to bring my game anywhere, adapt to the different places I come to and this is just the first step of doing that.
“I signed up for membership for next year because I want to play out here. I’m very thankful for the path that I’ve taken so far but this week means a lot. It’s a big week.” -BBC
