Englishman Tommy Fleetwood delivered the perfect response to Justin’s Rose’s Race to Dubai presented by Rolex challenge by firing a spectacular seven under 66 to move to six under for the tournament in a share of 11th place and get his bid to be crowned European Number One back on track after a forgettable one over 73 in the opening round.
Fellow Englishman Rose, who entered the tournament 256,737 points behind his rival and friend, seized the opening day advantage with a six under 66 which moved him ahead in the projected standings. The Ryder Cup star is still very much in the hunt after following up his stellar opening round with a two under 70 to lie in share of third place at eight under par. But Fleetwood needed to strike back with something special to ensure that he remained in pole position for Race to Dubai glory and he did just that with a nerveless display that yielded eight birdies and one bogey.
Back into the #RaceToDubai lead. ✍🏻
For now…#DPWTC #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/Xx8b4lZlDI
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) November 17, 2017
“It’s all about how you react to stuff, isn’t it? It was a big day,” said the 26 year old before revealing that the key to his quick recovery was in letting go of the frustration of his opening round as quickly as possible. “You get over it, you move on and remind yourself there still three rounds of golf left to play; now there’s two. My swing felt a lot better. I was on the putting green till dark last night and today was just a much better today.
“There’s still a tournament to play for and there’s still a Race to Dubai to play for, so there are two things going on and you’ve just got to concentrate on one, take each day as it comes and try and do your best in the tournament.
“I needed a low one for both purposes but the only thing that you can control is the tournament. In the Race to Dubai, I can’t do anything about the maths or what Justin does so the sole focus was to try to get back into this event.”
If Rose wins the DP World Tour Championship, the Race to Dubai is out of Fleetwood’s hands, but his stunning round has ensured he’s still very much in the hunt.
