The 2011 European Tour culminates with this week’s Dubai World Championship, where Luke Donald and Rory McIlroy will fight for the Race to Dubai crown.
The qualification criteria for the Dubai World Championship dictates that the top 60 players in that season’s Race to Dubai qualify for the season-ending $7.5m showpiece in the Gulf.
However, England’s Justin Rose, who returned to Florida after his appearance at the UBS Hong Kong Open for the imminent birth of his second child, and Sweden’s Fredrik Jacobson, who was forced to withdraw from the field with an injury, are not present.
2011 will be the third time this tournament has been contested. In 2009 Lee Westwood put on a masterclass to finish six clear of Ross McGowan, while Robert Karlsson took the title in 2010.
The skills required to be competitive in the season finale will test any golfer, especially the last four holes. Negotiating these closing holes will be the key to any success around the Earth Course.
The main focus in the build up to the Dubai World Championship has been about Rory McIlroy 7.180 and Luke Donald 11.470.
The Northern Irishman's victory last week in the UBS Hong Kong Open ensured he moved within striking distance of Luke Donald at the top of the Race to Dubai standings.
Should McIlroy win this week, and Donald finish outside the top nine, the Englishman would be thwarted in his historic bid to finish the year at the top of both the European and PGA Tour money lists.
Victories in the WGC – Accenture Match Play, the BMW PGA Championship and the Barclays Scottish Open on The European Tour, in addition to the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Classic on the US PGA Tour, have Donald to the top of the world order.
World Number Two McIlroy is just €789,789 behind Donald in second place in the Race to Dubai and is looking to finish a stunning year, during which he won his first Major Championship, on a high.
He has enjoyed the best season of his career, finishing in the top ten 12 times on The European Tour International Schedule including wins in the US Open Championship at Congressional and then last week in the UBS Hong Kong Open.
One stumbling block however, for the Irishman could be that he is not 100% fit after suffering a virus.
Elsewhere, Ian Poulter 27.080 lost in a playoff for this tournament last year and comes into the tournament off a fourth-place finish in Hong Kong last week. A win here will ensure he finishes a poor season with a bang.
Englishman Paul Casey 19.690 produced three fantastic rounds to finish third at last week's Chevron World Challenge. He finished sixth in last year's Dubai World Championship and placed fourth on his last European Tour start at the WGC - HSBC Champions.
Sergio Garcia 14.580 enters the tournament after rejuvenating his career with two consecutive wins in Spain. The Spaniard will really hope to prove his game is back to its best this week.
Finally two previous winners Englishman Lee Westwood 6.020 and Sweden’s Robert Karlsson 27.080 have both qualified for the season finale.
Westwood secured the title with a nerveless final round to win by a six shot margin and with it claimed the inaugural Race to Dubai title, while last year Karlsson triumphed over Ian Poulter after an exciting play-off.
The 38-year-old Englishman heads into the event on the back of an impressive victory in the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City, and has a win and third place finish in his previous two tournaments here.
The Swede is also high in confidence after a solid performance last week in the Nedbank Golf Challenge. Karlsson has experienced mixed fortunes on both the European and PGA Tours in 2011 and would love to finish the year with a victory.
