AFP/Dubai


The European Tour enters its final event of the season with this week’s DP World Tour Championship, which will crown two champions on Sunday - winner of the $8 million tournament, and the Race to Dubai.
Henrik Stenson is the two-time defending champion of the tournament, which begins today at the Earth course of Jumeirah Golf Estates, while Rory McIlroy will try to win the Race to golf Dubai, and with it the honour of being called the number one European player, for a second straight season.
Stenson, who is searching for his first win of the season, is currently ranked 16th in the Race to Dubai, but that looks certain to improve.
The world number six is a combined 56-under par for his last three visits to the Earth course, and has figured out a good gameplan to tackle the Greg Norman-designed lay-out.
“I’m excited about the opportunity to make it three in a row. It’s not going to be easy, I know that much,” said Stenson, who will try to make it back-to-back wins for Sweden after Kristoffer Broberg’s triumph in Shanghai.
“I’ve got 59 other players who wants to stop me dearly and I’m just going to go out and try and make the same plan and hopefully play somewhat close to what I’ve done the previous two years, and we’ll see if we can give it a shot.”
Also in the reckoning for the title will be the in-form Justin Rose, who holds the course record of 62 and who has finished second here twice.
The world number five from England, who can also win the Race to Dubai, said: “I have always enjoyed finishing the season here in Dubai.
“It’s a course that has been good for me and I really enjoy playing. I’ve played well here the last few years and I come in here with the exciting chance of trying to win the Race to Dubai.”
It is a close battle for the Race to Dubai, with seven players - McIlroy, Danny Willett, Rose, Shane Lowry, Louis Oosthuizen, Branden Grace and Korean rookie An Byeong-hun - all in with a chance on Sunday.
However, only McIlroy and the second-ranked Willett are in control of their own destinies, meaning if they win the tournament, it doesn’t matter where everyone else is finishing.
And with just 1,613 points separating them, whoever has a better finish between McIlroy and Willett, is guaranteed to win the Race to Dubai, and along with it a bonus of $1.875 million.
Willett had a chance to catch up with McIlroy in last week’s BMW Masters in Shanghai, but instead of finishing solo 28th or better, he finished tied 28th.
McIlroy will have the advantage of being fresh for the tournament since he did not play the BMW Masters, and has a phenomenal record at the Earth course, where the only time he did not finish inside the top-five in six starts was in 2011, when he was tied 11th.
The other battle in the Race to Dubai is the honour of being called the Rookie of the Year.  An (seventh in the Race to Dubai), England’s Matt Fitzpatrick (14th) and India’s Anirban Lahiri (19th) are in contention for the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award.

Scott searching for old magic on home courses

Reuters, Melbourne: A year-ending tour of Australia has become an unlikely launching pad to a season of triumph for some of golf’s brightest stars, so Adam Scott is hoping his home courses can work their magic again for his own game.
The former world number one has had an underwhelming year by his own lofty standards and arrived Down Under this week feeling some pressure to clinch a title and maintain his proud record of at least one tournament win every year dating back to 2001.
Scott should fancy his chances at the Australian Masters which tees off at Melbourne’s storied Huntingdale Golf Club on Thursday, where he will bid to win his third trophy in four years against a modest field of local professionals.  The Australian Open in Sydney next week offers a tougher challenge, however, and the prospect of a mouthwatering battle with American world number one and defending champion Jordan Spieth.  Scott has previously arrived in Australia searching for answers and found them on the sunbaked greens of Melbourne’s sandbelt in 2012, when he won his first Australian Masters trophy at Kingston Heath.
Edging Briton Ian Poulter in a tense shoot-out helped Scott ease some of the disappointment of his British Open meltdown that year, when he gave up a four-stroke lead in the last four holes to blow his best chance at a maiden major championship.
Months later, he was the toast of Australia after becoming his country’s first player to win a U.S. Masters at the 2013 tournament.
“All events are important, but when you’re looking for that momentum to get back in the winner’s circle, these (tournaments) play a big role in that,” he said.  “I can think of a lot of guys who have really kickstarted great runs by winning in Australia, and I did it in 2012.”
Former world number one Rory McIlroy can also swear by the restorative powers of a trip Down Under, having ended a miserable 2013 with a win at the Australian Open at Royal Sydney Golf Club.
McIlroy would go on to win two of the following year’s four majors and recapture the world number one ranking.
Spieth then stole the show from both McIlroy and Scott at last year’s Australian Open, his second professional win leading into his astonishing 2015 season in which he also won two of the four majors.
“Yeah, it’s on my mind,” Scott said of his record of tournament wins going back to 2001.
“I’d love to (continue) it. Just got to go out and put four good days together, and that’s something I haven’t really done.”