Tommy Fleetwood could have sealed the Race to Dubai title had he won in South Africa on Sunday. Richard Heathcote / Getty Images
Tommy Fleetwood could have sealed the Race to Dubai title had he won in South Africa on Sunday. Richard Heathcote / Getty Images
Tommy Fleetwood could have sealed the Race to Dubai title had he won in South Africa on Sunday. Richard Heathcote / Getty Images
Tommy Fleetwood could have sealed the Race to Dubai title had he won in South Africa on Sunday. Richard Heathcote / Getty Images

Race to Dubai: Who are the contenders and what are their chances?


John McAuley
  • English
  • Arabic

Tommy Fleetwood (4,235,987 points) After concluding 2016 with a tied-third in Hong Kong, the Englishman sprung out of the blocks in 2017, winning the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship among a star-studded field in January. Fleetwood shot a superb 67 on Sunday to triumph by a single stroke from Dustin Johnson and Pablo Larrazabal. Since, he has won in France, finished second at the WGC event in Mexico and then again in China, and fourth at the US Open. Fleetwood, 26, could have sealed the Race to Dubai one week early, but had to settle for a share of 10th at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa on Sunday.

Justin Rose has enjoyed a successful two weeks in the run up to the DP World Tour Championship. Richard Heathcote / Getty Images
Justin Rose has enjoyed a successful two weeks in the run up to the DP World Tour Championship. Richard Heathcote / Getty Images

Justin Rose (3,979,250) Having already been crowned Europe's No 1, in 2007, the Englishman has made a late charge for another seasonal crown. Rose, 37, registered two huge victories back-to-back these past few weeks, first landing the WGC HSBC Champions event in China and then the Turkish Airlines Open seven days later. It propelled the 2013 US Open champion into second in the standings, making him Fleetwood's main threat in Dubai. Based in the United States, Rose has contested 11 events on the European Tour this season, in comparison to Fleetwood's 23. Other highlights include second at the Masters and tied-fourth at the Irish Open.

Sergio Garcia, left, has already won a title in Dubai this season and will be raring to have another go in the emirate this week. Richard Sellers / Press Association
Sergio Garcia, left, has already won a title in Dubai this season and will be raring to have another go in the emirate this week. Richard Sellers / Press Association

Sergio Garcia (3,184,582) One of the most popular players on the European Tour, the Spaniard got his year up and running properly at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, when he went wire-to-wire to record a three-shot victory over nearest competitor Henrik Stenson. Little more than two months later, Garcia had the major championship he had so long craved: at the Masters, he prevailed in an epic Sunday battle with Rose, sealing the Green Jacket at the first play-off hole. Garcia, 37, has three wins from 12 starts on the tour this season having clinched his own tournament in Spain in October, while he also finished tied-second at the BMW International Open.

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Read more

DP World Tour Championship: All you need to know

Stenson hoping to play at DP World Championship

Rose says Garcia deserves Golfer of Year award

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
While you're here

Fatherland

Kele Okereke

(BMG)

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The National's picks

4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young

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Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Specs

Engine: 51.5kW electric motor

Range: 400km

Power: 134bhp

Torque: 175Nm

Price: From Dh98,800

Available: Now

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Some of Darwish's last words

"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008

His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.

Eyasses squad

Charlie Preston (captain) – goal shooter/ goalkeeper (Dubai College)

Arushi Holt (vice-captain) – wing defence / centre (Jumeriah English Speaking School)  

Olivia Petricola (vice-captain) – centre / wing attack (Dubai English Speaking College)

Isabel Affley – goalkeeper / goal defence (Dubai English Speaking College)

Jemma Eley – goal attack / wing attack (Dubai College)

Alana Farrell-Morton – centre / wing / defence / wing attack (Nord Anglia International School)

Molly Fuller – goal attack / wing attack (Dubai College)

Caitlin Gowdy – goal defence / wing defence (Dubai English Speaking College)

Noorulain Hussain – goal defence / wing defence (Dubai College)

Zahra Hussain-Gillani – goal defence / goalkeeper (British School Al Khubairat)

Claire Janssen – goal shooter / goal attack (Jumeriah English Speaking School)         

Eliza Petricola – wing attack / centre (Dubai English Speaking College)