Race to Dubai 2016 Standings: Latest Rankings Before DP World Tour Championship
Rory McIlroy will battle Henrik Stenson and Danny Willett to become the 2016 European Tour Race to Dubai champion as the field enter the final event—the DP World Tour Championship, hosted at the Jumeirah Golf Estates' Earth Course in Dubai, United Arab Emirates—on Thursday.
Alex Noren is also in the mix to win the title as the four players attempt to find their top form at the final hurdle of 2016 season.
A total of 60 players will convene at the World Tour Championship. Stenson leads the way in the overall standings.
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The European Tour provided a look at the top positions before the event:
McIlroy is a three-time winner of the race, and he will need Stenson to collapse to win his fourth title since 2012.
However, the 40-year-old Swedish superstar is in top form, and the course fits perfectly into his playing style and length off the tee.
Stenson is also a former winner of the race, grabbing the huge first-prize cheque in 2013. The winner at the Earth Course will collect €1,217,174, or about $1,302,163, as they cross the 2016 finish line.
McIlroy has disadvantaged himself, missing recent events, including the Turkish Airlines Open.
The Northern Ireland icon admitted before the Turkish event his chances of winning in Dubai are slim, with Stenson and Willett placed well, per the Golf Paper:
"I guess it’s out of my hands. I took the decision not to go to Turkey next week and those boys can battle it out.
If I have somewhat of a chance going into Dubai that’s great. But if not, I think over the course of the season they have had big wins and played well.
They are two major champions, so I’m okay with that.
"
Willett led the charge for the title for most of the season, but the 2016 U.S. Masters champion has witnessed a progressive decline in his form.
Noren might be viewed as an outsider to lift the title, but the Swede is flying after overturning a six-shot deficit to capture the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa.
According to BBC Sport, Noren proclaimed after the victory, "This was the round of my life."
The win took Noren into the top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
However, his countryman, Stenson, holds the competition's course record at Jumeirah after finishing on 25 under par in 2013. Stenson battled Noren all the way at the Nedbank Golf Challenge, producing a number of stunning shots, via the European Tour:
It is unlikely that McIlroy will prevail this term, and the title is Stenson's to lose, as a moderate finish should allow him to hold off the competition.
Willett is still positioned dangerously, but the current quality of his play doesn't match his place in the standings.
Stenson has hit a great level of consistency this season and would be a worthy winner in Dubai, but Noren might produce a tremendous shock as fans support the more famous names in the sport.
All stats via the European Tour.
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