Dubai - Six to watch

Els: four wins in Middle East

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The European Tour season reaches its climax in Dubai this week, where the winner on Sunday will receive a top prize of 830,675 euros.

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In addition to this, the player who ends the year on top of the Tour's money list will collect a bonus in excess of one million euros.

Irishman Rory McIlroy currently leads the Race to Dubai standings having overtaken Lee Westwood on Sunday with a runner-up finish in the Hong Kong Open.

Westwood, who struggled home with a closing 74 to finish in a tie-for-54th at Fanling, drops to second in the standings but remains one of four players who could still end the season as European No 1.

The others are Martin Kaymer and Ross Fisher, while fifth placed Paul Casey - who is also in reach of McIlroy - has been forced to withdraw through injury.

For Kaymer to be crowned European No 1, the German must not finish lower than fourth in this week's Dubai World Championship to stand any chance, while Fisher would have to finish either first or second. Even then much would depend on McIlroy's performance.

But Westwood knows that a win would definitely be enough, as the gap in prize money between first and second place is greater than the difference between the Englishman and McIlroy's current totals in the Race to Dubai standings.

Yet history tends to show that a player in contention to top the Money List rarely wins the concluding event.

However, Westwood did claim the Order of Merit crown in 2000 by finishing second at the end-of-season WGC American Express Championship when he overtook close friend Darren Clarke who had led the table going into the final event at Valderrama.

This week's venue - the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates - was designed by Greg Norman and is almost 7,700 yards in length, while there are more than 20 lakes on the estate, along with 102 bunkers.

So who could be contending this week?

Ernie Els: Loves playing in the Middle East where he has won four times during his European Tour career. The South African was also second at the recent HSBC Champions event in China.

Simon Dyson: One of the Tour's in-form players. Has won twice this season, is eighth in the Money List and posted another top-10 finish in Hong Kong on Sunday.

Retief Goosen: Has played consistently well in recent months and a likely winner on Sunday. He needs a top-12 finish to take his Tour prize money for the season beyond the one-million euros mark.

Francesco Molinari: The Italian continues to play impressively. He tied-for-third in Hong Kong which was his fifth top-three finish of the season.

Ian Poulter: Is back in top form although his Middle East record is mediocre by his own high standards.

Henrik Stenson: Has a great recent record in the gulf states. In his last 12 visits to the region, the Swede has posted 11 top-10 finishes - seven of these in the top-three - and has had two victories. His most recent 46 rounds here average 68.54. However, his current form has been a little wobbly over recent months.