Patrick Reed Goes Top of Race to Dubai Standings After WGC-Mexico Win
By Matt Coles
After a sublime victory at the WGC-Mexico Championship on Sunday, Patrick Reed has taken the top spot on the European Tour’s Race to Dubai leaderboard.
Patrick Reed won the event by a single shot at Chapultepec, finishing on a score of -18, and with the victory, he has made the jump back into the top ten on the Official World Golf Rankings.
The American, who won the Masters back in 2018, was featured on the European Tour for the second time in the 2020 season but failed to make the cut at the Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers earlier this month.
The victory in Mexico sees Patrick Reed move to the summit of the Race to Dubai leaderboard, with the 1,500 points for the win moving him clear at the top.
Lee Westwood now sits in 2nd spot on the Race to Dubai, having led the standings since mid-January, following his victory at the first Rolex Series tournament of the 2020 season, the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA.
The Englishman now sits in 2nd spot, 218 points behind the American, but he did improve his points tally, following a T22 finish in Mexico on Sunday afternoon.
Lucas Herbert took the victory at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, his maiden European Tour title. The Aussie sits third in the table, having made all five cuts since the turn of the year.
Along with his victory in Dubai in the final week of January, Herbert has finished inside the top 30 at both the Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers and the ISPS Handa Vic Open. He finished just outside the top 50 in Mexico this week.
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After a four-year wait, Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell took a European Tour victory earlier this month, by winning the Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers. That win moved him into the top three on the Race to Dubai leaderboard, but he has now dropped down to 4th following the first World Golf Championships event of the season.
Although he is yet to win on the European Tour in 2020, England’s Tommy Fleetwood now sits in 5th spot on the Race to Dubai leaderboard, following a runners-up finish at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA, plus top 20 results at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, and this week’s WGC-Mexico Championship
For the first time this season, Erik van Rooyen is the leading South African on the Race to Dubai leaderboard, following a T3 result in Mexico this week. He has made the move into the top 40 on the Official World Golf Rankings because of it, and he now sits in the 6th spot on the European Tour’s points list.
Frenchman Victor Perez was one of three men to finish runner-up to Westwood at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA. He did sit inside the top five prior to the WGC-Mexico Championship but now sits 7th after finishing just outside the top 50 at Chapultepec.
The second South African on the leaderboard is Christiaan Bezuidenhout, who moved into the top 50 on the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time after winning on the Challenge Tour last week. A T29 finish in Mexico on Sunday sees him remain in 8th place, just 1.4 points behind Perez.
Branden Grace led the Race to Dubai after his victory at the South African Open hosted by the City of Johannesburg in early January, but he now sits in 9th spot, dropping three places from last week, after finishing outside the top 40 in Mexico.
The final man inside the top ten on the Race to Dubai points list is Englishman Matthew Fitzpatrick, the third man to finish runner-up at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA. A T37 result at Chapultepec sees Fitzpatrick drop down to 10th on the leaderboard.
The European Tour continues on Thursday, as the second desert swing of the season begins, with the Oman Open taking place at Al Mouj in Muscat.
Race to Dubai Top Ten:
- (+213): Patrick Reed (USA) – 1,500.0
- (-1): Lee Westwood (ENG) – 1,281.8
- (-1): Lucas Herbert (AUS) – 829.9
- (-1): Graeme McDowell (NIR) – 728.4
- (-): Tommy Fleetwood (ENG) – 702.0
- (+31): Erik van Rooyen (RSA) – 667.0
- (-3): Victor Perez (FRA) – 638.7
- (-): Christiaan Bezuidenhout (RSA) – 637.3
- (-3): Branden Grace (RSA) – 618.4
- (-1): Matthew Fitzpatrick (ENG) – 608.6
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