Race to Dubai: Graeme McDowell Into Top Three After Saudi Win

After winning the Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers, Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell is now inside the top three on the Race to Dubai leaderboard.

Graeme McDowell took the victory on Sunday by two shots at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City, his 11th on the European Tour. He ended a five-year drought on the Tour, and in doing so, the Northern Irishman made the move into 3rd spot on the Race to Dubai list, moving up nearly 200 positions. He is now behind only England’s Lee Westwood and Australian Lucas Herbert.

The Englishman won for the 25th time on the European Tour, with a victory at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA in mid-January.

Graeme McDowell became the first player to win on the Tour in four different decades and he holds a 415 point lead over Herbert in the standings after the desert swing ended in Saudi Arabia on Sunday afternoon.

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Herbert took victory at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic last weekend to make his move into the top two on the Race to Dubai list, with what was his maiden European Tour title.

Victor Perez remains 4th after the Frenchman finished in a tie for 2nd at the first Rolex Series event of the season two weeks ago. However, after solid performances in both Dubai and Saudi Arabia, poor final rounds saw the Frenchman drop out of contention, but he remains in 4th.

England’s Tommy Fleetwood now sits in 5th, dropping down two spots, with the majority of his points coming from a runners-up finish in Abu Dhabi, followed by a T11 result in Dubai last week.

The man in 6th place is Branden Grace, who did sit at the top of the Race to Dubai standings following his victory at the South African Open hosted by the City of Johannesburg. He is the first of three South Africans inside the top ten.

The second is Louis Oosthuizen, who now sits in 7th spot, having finished 2nd to Grace at the South African Open hosted by the City of Johannesburg, followed by a 5th place result in Abu Dhabi.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout, the South African who finished 2nd at last week’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic after missing out in the playoff to Herbert, now sits in 8th spot, maintaining his position after a decent week in Saudi Arabia. The trio of South Africans are separated by just 3.4 points at this stage.

England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick was the third man to finish as a joint runner-up in at the first Rolex Series event of the season, but he has now dropped to 9th spot on the Race to Dubai list.

The final man inside the top ten is Pablo Larrazabal. The Spaniard won the season-opening Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa and is currently sitting in the 10th spot.

The next event on the European Tour is a tournament that is co-sanctioned with the Australasian Tour, the ISPS Handa Vic Open, held in Geelong.

Race to Dubai Top Ten:

(-): Lee Westwood (ENG) – 1,183.2
(-): Lucas Herbert (AUS) – 767.6
(+192): Graeme McDowell (NIR) – 710.0
(-): Victor Perez (FRA) – 604.5
(-2): Tommy Fleetwood (ENG) – 592.0
(-1): Branden Grace (RSA) – 565.3
(-1): Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) – 564.2
(-): Christiaan Bezuidenhout (RSA) – 561.9
(-2): Matthew Fitzpatrick (ENG) – 545.6
(-1): Pablo Larrazabal (ESP) – 523.9

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Upcoming Tournaments:

Feb 6-9: ISPS Handa Vic Open – 2,000 points available
Feb 20-23: WGC – Mexico Championship – 9,000
Feb 27-Mar 1: Oman Open – 2,750
Mar 5-8: Commercial Bank Qatar Masters – 2,750
Mar 12-15: Magical Kenya Open presented by Absa – 2,000

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