2017 Race to Dubai champion Tommy Fleetwood came agonisingly close to winning his first Major after posting a spellbinding final round 63 to finish second whilst American Patrick Reed moved back to the summit of the Rankings with a fourth place finish in the 118th US Open at a challenging Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, New York.
The Englishman started his final round six shots behind the leaders but hit red-hot form as he posted four birdies in the first seven holes to get into the mix. The 27 year old kept up his charge on the back nine as he gained four more shots from holes 12-15 to finish seven under for the day and seal second place just one behind American Brooks Koepka who defended the crown he won last year. Fleetwood receives 1,296,000 Race to Dubai points which sees him move from eighth to second in the Race to Dubai Rankings with 2,467,470 points for the season.
“Hats off to Tommy on a solid display at a very tough Shinnecock Hills,” said Nick Tarratt, Director European Tour International, Dubai Office. “The USGA like to challenge the players and this year was no exception with no one finishing under par. We now look ahead to a busy schedule on the European Tour with next week’s BMW International Open followed by three consecutive Rolex Series Events as the players battle to make the top 60 of the Race to Dubai and book their place at the season ending DP World Tour Championship.”
Fleetwood nearly capped off his final round in fine style but narrowly missed a birdie putt on the last which would have seen him tie Branden Grace’s record for the lowest round at a Major – 62. He instead settled for the joint lowest round in US Open history and the 2017 HNA Open de France winner took many positives from his third outing at the event despite narrowly missing out.
“It’s been a great day. It’s easy to look at it and think I was one shy and you can be disappointed but there’s so many positives to look at,” said Fleetwood
“It’s another Major where I’ve ended up near the top at the end of the day. Majors in tournaments are 72 holes so it doesn’t matter how you do it, if you end up there at the end of the week, it’s a positive.”
Meanwhile, Reed, who holds both European Tour and PGA Tour cards, finished in fourth place to pick up 569,884 Race to Dubai points. The Masters Tournament champion overtakes Francesco Molinari at the top of the Rankings on 2,785,884 points.
Englishman Tyrrell Hatton and Sweden’s Henrik Stenson ended the tournament tied for eighth which saw both men secure 361,922 Race to Dubai points. Hatton climbs from 13th to eighth in the Race to Dubai Rankings with 1,299,822 points whilst Stenson jumps from 29th to 16th with a season tally of 890,301 points.
England’s Justin Rose had to settle for a tie for tenth place after carding a three over par final round. Rose picks up 270,151 Race to Dubai points which moves him up to 45th from 26th in the Rankings on 640,151 points. Fellow countryman Matthew Fitzpatrick – 2016 champion of the DP World Tour Championship – finished in a tie for 12th which saw him collect 221,825 Race to Dubai points to move him from 24th to 18th in the Race to Dubai Rankings with a season total of 814,820 points.
Italy’s Molinari completes the top three in the Race to Dubai Rankings after finishing tied for 25th which saw him win 79,200 points. The BMW PGA Championship victor drops from first to third with a total of 2,344,946 points.
The DP World Tour Championship, Dubai takes place at Jumeirah Golf Estates from November 15-18.