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Race to Dubai 2019: Who can still end the year as European No 1?

The battle to win the Race to Dubai heats up at the Nedbank Golf Challenge, with a host of players still in the running to end the season as European No 1.

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Bernd Wiesberger arrives in Sun City top of the season-long standings with two events remaining, having followed victories at the Made In Denmark and Scottish Open by winning the Italian Open last month.

The Austrian was unable to extend his advantage with a tied-49th finish at the WGC-HSBC Champions and only claimed 49th spot Turkish Airlines Open, although gets another opportunity in South Africa with Jon Rahm and Shane Lowry, his two closest challengers, both skipping the Rolex Series event.

Image: Wiesberger leads the Race to Dubai by 387.1 points

Only five of the current top 10 on the Race to Dubai are in action this week, where 1,665 points are awarded to the winner, giving those further down the standings the chance to make a late charge up the rankings.

Matt Fitzpatrick is Wiesberger's closest rival in the field and heads into the week in fourth spot, having posted four runner-up finishes this season, with the Englishman the only player who can move into top spot with a win this week.

 during Day XX of the WGC HSBC Champions at Sheshan International Golf Club on November 3, 2019 in Shanghai, China.
Image: Fitzpatrick starts the week as world No 25

Fitzpatrick trails by nearly 1,150 points but can jump to first with victory at Gary Player Country Club, providing Wiesberger finishes outside of the top four, while a runner-up finish could see him move as high as second heading into next week's season ending DP World Tour Championship.

Three-time Order of Merit winner Rory McIlroy and last week's champion Tyrrell Hatton, the next two in the standings, both sit out in South Africa but could still end the year in top spot with a victory in Dubai.

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Rory McIlroy
Image: McIlroy's won the WGC-HSBC Champions in our last start

One of Matt Wallace and Tommy Fleetwood - seventh and 10th respectively - can jump to second if either register their first victory of the season this week, while Scotland's Robert MacIntyre is still in the running and in 13th position despite a tied-seventh finish in Antalya.

Turkish runners-up Erik Van Rooyen and Kurt Kitayama - who start the week eighth and 11th in the standings - are also among the group who can go as high as second with a win, depending on other results, with MacIntyre and home favourite Louis Oosthuizen completing that list.

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Only the top 50 in the standings after this week are eligible to feature in next week's season finale, with Alex Noren and Martin Kaymer among the players featuring in South Africa that are outside of that cut-off mark.

Who will win the Race to Dubai? Watch the Nedbank Golf Challenge and DP World Tour Championship this month live on Sky Sports Golf!

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