Patrick Reed, Tommy Fleetwood, Collin Morikawa and Lee Westwood can guarantee the Race to Dubai crown with victory at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai; 61 of the 65-man field can still end the season as European No 1.
Wednesday 9 December 2020 17:15, UK
The European Tour season reaches its climax this week at the DP World Tour Championship, live on Sky Sports, with a host of players still in the running to win the Race to Dubai.
Thirteen of the world's top 50 and eight of the top 10 in the Race to Dubai standings are in the field for the season finale on the Earth Course at Jumeriah Golf Estates, where all but four of the 65 players in action still have a mathematical chance of ending the season as European No 1.
Patrick Reed arrives in Dubai top of the standings and with a 460-point advantage over the nearest challenger Tommy Fleetwood, with the 2018 Masters champion one of four players who can guarantee ending the season as European No 1 with a victory.
Reed won the WGC-Mexico Championship before the season's coronavirus-enforced suspension and has finished no worse than tied-13th in all three majors this season, while a share of third at the BMW PGA Championship helped to extend his lead over the chasing pack.
The 30-year-old is attempting to become the first American winner of the European Tour's Order of Merit, with compatriot Collin Morikawa - third in the standings after his PGA Championship win - also in action for his first start in a regular European Tour event.
Fleetwood is without a worldwide win in 2020 and looks to go one better than his runner-up finish to Jon Rahm in last year's finale, with the 2017 Race to Dubai champion having ended the season-long standings no worse than third in each of the last three years.
The only other golfer who can wrap up the Order of Merit with a win this week is Lee Westwood, who won the Abu Dhabi Championship in January and went on a run of six consecutive top-20 finishes over the summer, with the former world No 1 previously winning the title in 2000 and 2009.
Should Reed finish worse than solo second this week, then Christiaan Bezuidenhout - winner of back-to-back events in South Africa over his last two starts - is among those who can make a late bid for Race to Dubai victory.
Victor Perez, a two-time runner-up in Rolex Series events in 2020, Scottish Open champion Aaron Rai and Tyrrell Hatton - making his first regular European Tour start since his win at Wentworth in September - all sit inside the top 10 and with a chance of topping the season standings.
The winner receives 2,000 points this week and the person finishing last earns just 30, meaning there will be lots of drama over the coming days and plenty of golfers believing they're still in with a chance of lifting the Harry Vardon Trophy.
Who can't be European No 1?
Two-time DP World Tour Championship winner Henrik Stenson and 2018 champion Danny Willett are among the players to benefit from a unique exemption for this year's contest, available to European Tour members inside the world's top 75 who have had their playing opportunities reduced due to coronavirus travel restrictions this season.
Norway's Viktor Hovland - winner on the PGA Tour last week in Mexico - and America-based Jazz Janewattananond are also in the field under that category, although all four are too far behind in the standings to reach Reed's current total.
Defending champion Rahm and three-time Race to Dubai winner Rory McIlroy are among the notable absentees this week, with Champion Golfer Shane Lowry, Paul Casey and Louis Oosthuizen also not making the trip to the Middle East.
Watch the DP World Tour Championship throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage begins on Thursday from 7am on Sky Sports Golf and Sky Sports Main Event.
