Dubai: England’s Danny Willett moved into second place behind Rory McIlroy on the European Tour’s Race to Dubai standings after his one-stroke victory over compatriot Matthew Fitzpatrick in the Omega European Masters on Sunday.
Willett — who previously won his first outing of the season at the Nedbank Challenge, came third in the WGC-Cadillac Championship and tied for sixth at The Open a week ago — claimed €450,000 (Dh1.8 million) for his victory at Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club in Switzerland, taking his overall points tally for the season to 2,548,439.
The 27-year-old from Sheffield is now just 327,206 points behind the injured McIlroy and has comfortably assured his spot in the season-ending DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai from November 19 to 22.
European Challenge Tour graduate and former US Amateur Champion Fitzpatrick is also within touching distance of a guaranteed place among the Race to Dubai’s top 60, who are eligible for the year-ending finale.
Another consistent performance in the Swiss Alps earned the 20-year-old second place prize money of €300,000 and moved him to 40th place overall with 523,689 points. A total of 500,000 points is typically enough to assure a place in Dubai.
Tyrrell Hatton, who also graduated from the Challenge Tour at the end of the 2013 season, fired a joint low round of the week with a 62 on Sunday to secure third place and €169,020. That moves him to 36th in the Race to Dubai standings with 588,665 points, which should be enough for him to return to Dubai, where he finished tied for sixth on his debut last year.
South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen moves down a place to third in the standings, while Austrian Bernd Weisberger and South Africa’s Branden Grace complete the top five with three-and-a-half months of the season remaining.
Tickets for the DP World Tour Championship are free of charge and can be obtained by registering online at www.DPWorldTourChampionship.com. Those who register online will be placed in a prize draw with the chance to win a VIP hospitality package for the event.
