Italy’s Francesco Molinari has risen to sixth from 17th in the 2017 Race to Dubai rankings after a spectacular joint second-place finish alongside Patrick Reed and Louis Oosthuizen in the US PGA Championship, which gives him a fantastic chance of receiving a share of the $5,000,000 Race to Dubai Bonus Pool that the top 10 players are awarded at the conclusion of the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai from November 16-19.
Molinari, who also was runner-up at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club in May, has an impressive track record over the Earth course after finishing tied-fourth in the last two DP World Tour Championships so he will be hoping to maintain this fantastic form and go one better at this year’s event at Jumeirah Golf Estates.
USA’s Patrick Reed also catapulted up the rankings from 62nd to 17th after gaining 662,733 points as he looks to make his second appearance at the DP World Tour Championship. The Ryder Cup icon finished tied 10th in his UAE debut in 2015. After this weekend’s impressive result, he has now all but booked his place in the prestigious season-ending event that is the final part of the Rolex Series after amassing a total of 1,044,621 points in the Race to Dubai.
Hoping I wake up tomorrow and this isn’t all a dream 🙌🏽
— Justin Thomas (@JustinThomas34) August 14, 2017
The three players sharing second spot were two shots adrift from the eventual winner Justin Thomas of the USA, who reached eight-under par with a closing 68 to claim the year’s fourth and final Major title by two shots. The American is now the eighth first-time Major winner in nine Major events.
SMITH FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS
Last month’s Porsche European Open champion, Jordan Smith, made the headlines once again after finishing as the leading British player at Quail Hollow in tied-ninth on one-under par. Smith, who was triumphant in the Ras Al Khaimah 2016 Golf Challenge en route to clinching the Challenge Tour’s Road to Oman, has climbed to 16th from 18th in the Race to Dubai and is currently one of the most in-form stars on the European Tour.
Two-time DP World Tour winner and reigning Race to Dubai champion Henrik Stenson settled for tied-13th and gained 135,251 points to move from 15th to 14th. The Swede has now a total of 1,150,770 points.
What a week @pgachampionship a week ill never forget @robhobscience @shanksgolfpro @harrybird_golf @Maxim_DR pic.twitter.com/BH5mxeEHm3
— Jordan Smith (@Jsmithgolf) August 13, 2017
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, who was the favourite ahead of this Major, and England’s Ian Poulter finished tied-22nd to win 75,374 points each. The Ulsterman progressed from 10th to ninth in the Race to Dubai while Poulter has broken into the sought-after top 60, moving from 61st to 52nd.
Englishman Tommy Fleetwood remains at the head of the Rankings with 3,771,122 points, whilst Spaniard Sergio Garcia is in second with a season-tally of 2,799,255 points and his young compatriot Jon Rahm sits in third spot on 2,761,857.
