The Race to Dubai is not as important as the race to keep your card this week, says Mark Roe.
Battle for Tour exemption is so important
In many ways it was a strange week over in Shanghai.
I couldn't help but be impressed by the way Phil Mickelson won the HSBC Champions - especially when you consider how little time he spent on the fairways! It was a magnificent example of how to win when you're not on top of your game.
He spent an awful lot of time chopping out of the semi-rough - but his short game was good and his putting was great. When Mickelson is at his best, he turns a tournament into an adventure.
He doesn't win with the methodical, strategic approach that you would associate with somebody like Lee Westwood. Mickelson prefers to take the adventurous route, he produces something miraculous when he needs to and he managed to steer the ship home last Sunday.
However, I was hugely disappointed for Ernie Els after a very impressive final round. I've often said he just needs to start finding his form on the greens and he would be back up there with Mickelson and Tiger Woods in the top three in the world again.
He did that on Sunday, but he made a strange choice on the 18th which cost him the championship. He was apparently between clubs and went for a high cut with a rescue club and, just as he did at Leopard Creek and in Dubai, he ended up in the middle of the lake. It wasn't even close to getting over.
It's a shame because he was in a good position to take the title and that would have been a great way to get back into the elite group of world players again.
Everybody knows he has the talent to get back in the top three, but you do worry about the mental scarring that he has suffered with those mistakes. He's let three chances to win end up in the middle of a lake and that will stick in his mind.
But it was great to see some of the magic we know he's capable of. When he's in full flow he makes the game of golf look easy.
Split
We head to Hong Kong this week; somewhere the players clearly enjoy visiting.
We have a strong field there, despite it being a split week on the European Tour as some guys have the opportunity to go down and play in the Australian Masters at the same time.
Both tournaments count towards the Order of Merit and there is an interesting dynamic whereby players in two different events are scrambling over several different agendas.
There aren't huge prize funds in these events so this week isn't going to drastically alter the result of the Race to Dubai. Nobody can win it in Hong Kong or Australia, so for the guys at the top end it's about bragging rights and taking good form to Dubai.
The real interest this week lies further down the pack. The top 60 will go to the Dubai World Championship and the guys just on the fringes, including Darren Clarke, will be looking for a big week in order to qualify.
If you make that top 60 the potential is there to earn an enormous amount of money so there truly is a lot to play for.
Scramble
But in my opinion, the scramble to claim the last spots on the Order of Merit is far more important than qualifying for the Dubai World Championship.
Keeping your card and keeping your job for 2010 is so important to a professional golfer. It looks like you will need to finish in the top 119 this year to keep your card - and if you don't then you won't be playing much golf next year.
Keeping your card allows you to plan and schedule in 2010. Unless you go back to the Tour school and successfully regain your card, you are forever waiting for the phone to ring to find out if you will be invited to play each week.
I'm surprised to see Oliver Fisher in the group of players scrapping it out. It hasn't been a great season for him, although there have been signs of improvement towards the end of the season.
He played some good golf around the Welsh Open earlier this year, but he's been struggling with his long game in particular. He needs a big week, but he's capable of doing it.
If he does fall short I believe he has the talent to fly through the Tour school and find his way back up to the top. In his case I would see this as a potential hiccup; a bump in a road that will eventually lead him to the top of the game.
But for somebody like former PGA Championship winner Scott Drummond it's a different story. Since that win he has done nothing of any great note and he's really struggled of late.
This is a real crossroads for him. He has proved he's capable of winning tournaments, but he hasn't backed it up with anything particularly solid in recent years.
Worrying
It's worrying times, as it is for all the guys in that scrap. Everybody wants to be an exempt golfer who can plan and play where and when you want to.
The guys that miss out will receive a huge dent in their confidence - but there have been plenty of people who have been through that process and have come back stronger.
Richard Finch is the ultimate example. He was struggling to keep his card, but did so by finishing sixth in the final event of the year in Mallorca in 2007.
Within six weeks he was a winner in New Zealand and then followed it up with a win in the Irish Open - and that shows how quickly things can turn around for you.
I've been through that pressure myself. In 2001 I went to the last tournament in Italy needing to finish third or better to keep my card - and I finished third! That result probably extended my career by five or six years.
So enjoy watching the Westwoods and McIlroys this week, but personally I'm looking forward to finding out which heroes are going to emerge at the other end of the Order of Merit.
We will find out what some of those men are made of - and for somebody this tournament could be the start of an unexpectedly bright future.
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