European Tour: DP World Tour Championship top 10 power rankings
The DP World Tour Championship signifies the end of the 2017 season and Race to Dubai Final Series on the European Tour.
The DP World Tour Championship comes to the Greg Norman-designed Earth Course at the Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for the ninth year since its inception in 2009.
The course plays to a robust 7,675 yards on the scorecard for a par of 72.
Plenty of bunkers and hazards litter the course, so good course management is key to getting around the Earth Course.
Winning scores are generally in the upper teens to low 20s under par, with 17-under-par getting it done in 2016.
Believe it or not, it’s going to be hot and sunny with a zero chance of rain all four tournament days. Who would’ve expected that in Dubai?
There will be breezes in the low double digits miles per hour just to give players something to think about, but otherwise weather won’t be much of a factor this week.
A pair of two-time winners of the DP World Tour Championship, Rory McIlroy and Henrik Stenson, are absent this week.
Players may have stratified goals this week depending on their spot in the rankings and how well they play this week. Only three players — No. 1 Tommy Fleetwood (4,235,987 points), No. 2 Justin Rose (3,979,250) and No. 3 Sergio García (3,184,582) — can finish No. 1 in the Race to Dubai. Finishing top 10 in the Race to Dubai has its value as these players get into the bonus pool with $1.25 million USD to No. 1, $750,000 to No. 2 and so on.
Winning the tournament isn’t a bad plan, either. First prize is about $1.3 million out of an $8 million purse.
In short, there’s a lot at stake this week. Here are 10 players who could rise to the occasion: