Danny Willett vows to come back stronger after finishing runner-up in Race to Dubai

DUBAI // Danny Willett topped up his bank account with a cool €278,000 (Dh1,087,238 million) after finishing tied for fourth in the DP World Tour Championship, to take his season’s swag to €3.67 million.

That haul was enough for second place in the Race to Dubai, with only Rory McIlroy ahead of him and the Englishman was content to sign off a season of great progress.

“Can’t dwell too much on a bad finish to a pretty good 52 weeks,” Willett said of the European Tour finale at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

“There’s been a lot of good results, if you look at the statistics, stroke averages, top 10s, top fives, wins, it has been a very good year.

“You hold your hands up and say you gave it your best shot but unfortunately came up shy by one. Hopefully next year we are in a similar position and can try to change the story.”

Branden Grace’s third-place finish around Earth Course meant he leapfrogged Justin Rose into second place in the Tour money list.

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The South African thrived while playing the last round of the campaign alongside his countryman Charl Schwartzel, carding a 67 to finish on 15-under par, six shots behind McIlroy, the winner.

“It’s a good round to finish the season,” Grace said. “It’s the best one so far, so I can’t be disappointed with that.”

Rose, who arrived in Dubai with a fair chance of winning the overall race, was demoted to fourth after finishing among the also-rans.

“It was just a little inconsistent this week, which is opposite to how the year has been,” Rose said, after his final-round 68 took him to seven-under par.

“It is the final event of the season and you always want to finish on a high, so I was very pleased with that round today.”

An Byeong-hun finished his rookie season on the European Tour ranked seventh in the rankings.

The South Korean player said he had not even anticipated cracking the top 60 this season, let alone the heady heights of the top 10.

“I’ll have a week off and it will be like heaven,” An said. “I think I’ve done pretty well this season and now I can rest without pressure.

“I have definitely exceeded expectations. I’m in the top 10 in the Race to Dubai, and I never thought about it, even the top 60. It definitely was a great season for me.”

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