European Tour Golf: January And Desert Swing Are A Wrap
By Les Bailey
Jul 18, 2014; Wirral, GBR; Danny Willett tees off on the 5th hole during the second round at the 143rd Open Championship at The Royal Liverpool Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Steve Flynn-USA TODAY Sports
After three consecutive second place finishes to start the 2015 season, Rory McIlroy finally gets a win at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic on Sunday to wrap up the European Tour’s Desert Swing for another year, and set the Race To Dubai standings as the tour moves to Asia. We haven’t seen the best from the young Northern Irishman, but his sites are now firmly set on Augusta in April.
Race To Dubai
Race To Dubai points leader, Danny Willett didn’t fare as well in the desert as he did in South Africa, finishing T13 in Dubai, and T57 in Abu Dhabi. The 27 year-old Brit, who played his college golf at Jacksonville State, retains the number one ranking on the strength of his win at the Nedbank Challenge, and a T4 effort at the Alfred Dunhill Championship.
More from European tour
- Davis Love III, Zach Johnson Reflect on What They Learned as Ryder Cup Captains
- DP World Tour Rookie McKibbin Forging His Own Path On Tour
- DP World Tour Fantasy Golf: Qatar Masters First Round Showdown Picks
- DP World Tour Fantasy Golf: Commercial Bank Qatar Masters DFS Picks
- Reflections on a Pilgrimage to the Home of Golf
The $6.5 Million Dollar purse in Sun City paid a whopping 865,000 Euro’s, which made the young Brit difficult to catch.
Ross Fischer picked up a second place check at the Nedbank, and with a solid top ten in Abu Dhabi, holds down the second spot in the standings.
Wins at the Alfred Dunhill Championship, and The Commercial Bank Qatar Masters couldn’t overcome the huge payday Willett made at the Nedbank, but Branden Grace sits in a solid third place as the tour moves into February.
the last name that comes to mind to be named as the Race To Dubai player of the month of January, was Gary Stal
Oct 5, 2013; Dublin, OH, USA; Branden Grace walks up to the 9th green during the third round of the Presidents Cup at Muirfield Village Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Gary Stal missed the cuts at the Alfred Dunhill Championship and the Qatar Masters, but had top ten finishes everywhere else, including a surprise win over Rory McIroy in Abu Dhabi. The young Frenchman rounds out the top five in the 2015 Race To Dubai points standings.
Gary Stal Golfer of Month For January
Among all the young golfers coming out of France, the last name you would think to be named as the Race To Dubai player of the month in January, was Gary Stal.
Stal was given a gift by Martin Kaymer’s meltdown in Abu Dhabi, but the 22 year-old from Lyon had to beat the world’s number one for his first European Tour victory. He hung around the leaderboard all day, and a 35 foot putt at the 16th hole, proved to be the difference.
"“It’s a real pleasure for me – I’m very happy to win this award,” said Stal. “I think my game is the best it has ever been at the moment and my putting is amazing so that helped me get this win.“The win was very big for me and now I will get to play some huge events like the WGC-Cadillac in Miami and the WGC-Bridgestone in Akron, so it was important in a lot of ways."
Andy Sullivan
Another youngster from England who had a great start to the season in January, was Andy Sullivan. The 28 year-old from Nuneaton won the South African Open before the Desert Swing, and finished T4 at the Dubai finale’. Sullivan was in the mix until a pair of 70’s on the weekend took him out of contention.
Sullivan moves into 12th place in the Race to Duabi standings.
With January squarely in the rear-view mirror, the European Tour does a little globe-hopping for February, with stops in Malaysia, Thailand, and India before returning to South Africa for the JoBurg Open at the end of the month.
Many of the top players on the European have status on the PGA Tour, and many will start migrating to the US for the Florida Swing, and the ramp-up to the Masters as we near March.
January, and the Desert Swing were everything I was hoping for as the new season got underway. We had some new winners, some old winners, and European Tour golf continues to get stronger every year. I don’t expect anything less in March.
Source: EuropeanTour.com