Sweden's Henrik Stenson capped a marvellous season with an emphatic, six-shot victory in the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai. He is the first player to win both the Race To Dubai and FedEx Cup.
Stenson fired a superb final round of 64 at Jumeirah Estates to finish the tournament on 25-under-par, six shots clear of his nearest challenger Ian Poulter. The victory secured Stenson the Race to Dubai crown and the €1,000,000 that goes with that title.
The Swede began the final round just one ahead of France's Victor Dubuisson. But, with three birdies in his first five holes, the 37-year-old extended his advantage and was never seriously challenged. In the end, Dubuisson closed with a 71 to fall back into third spot, two behind Poulter who posted a fourth round of 66.
Since finishing third in the Scottish Open this July, Stenson has been on an incredible run which has seen him claim runner's-up finishes at both the Open and the Bridgestone Invitational, and a third place in the USPGA Championship. He then went on to take the lucrative FedEx Cup on the PGA tour before securing the European Tour's season-ending prize to boot.
"It's been a dream season," he said. "I don't know how I'll be able to top this next year but I'm going to try hard in the Majors and that would be the icing on the cake."
Stenson has moved to number three on the Official World Ranking and is targeting the top spot.
"Everyone who has won the Race to Dubai before has been World Number 1 at some point so it would not be fair not to try."
Ian Poulter had to concede that the best man won this week.
"Henrik has not made a mistake," he said. "I just had to make sure of second place and some valuable Ryder Cup points. I have thrown a lot at him and given him so much stick, but he is the best player on the planet right now."
Stenson is now clear at the top of the World Points List for Ryder Cup qualification and has all but secured his place at Gleneagles, even with 10 months to go until the iconic team event gets underway.
British trio Luke Donald, Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy finished in a commendable tie for fifth, 10 shots back of Stenson's total.
DP World Tour Championship, Dubai Jumeirah Golf Estates, Dubai, UAE Nov 14-17, purse $8,000,000, par 72
1 Henrik Stenson (Swe) 68 64 67 64 263 €985,476 2 Ian Poulter (Eng) 69 68 66 66 269 €657,009 3 Victor Dubuisson (Fra) 70 66 64 71 271 €384,345 4 Joost Luiten (Ned) 73 68 65 66 272 €295,650 T5 Luke Donald (Eng) 73 66 67 67 273 €200,106 T5 Rory McIlroy (NIR) 71 67 68 67 273 €200,106 T5 Lee Westwood (Eng) 70 70 65 68 273 €200,106 T8 Jamie Donaldson (Wal) 68 72 67 67 274 €153,738 T8 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Esp) 72 66 66 70 274 €153,738 T10 Peter Hanson (Swe) 70 68 70 67 275 €130,086 T10 Justin Rose (Eng) 70 67 68 70 275 €138,086
Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage Where next? PGA Tour - Harris English wins OHL Classic
-
Henrik Stenson Facts: 25 Things You Didn't Know About The Swedish Pro GolferDiscover more about Swedish golf pro Henrik Stenson via these facts regarding his life and career in the game
-
Report: LIV Golf Trio Interviewed By US Justice DepartmentThe three LIV golfers have been interviewed along with lawyers from the PGA Tour
-
Majesticks GC - LIV Golf TeamThe all-European Majesticks GC team is captained by former World No.1 Lee Westwood
-
11 Big Names To Miss The Cut At The 150th Open ChampionshipWe take a look at some of the biggest names to miss the cut at St. Andrews.
-
Revealed: The 18 Greatest Shots In Open History RankedClippd, a new data-driven performance platform, has used their powerful Shot Quality tech to rank the 18 greatest Open shots. The results might surprise you.
-
8 Things You Didn't Know About David LingmerthWe get to know the 2015 Memorial Tournament winner Lingmerth a little better.
-
Who Is Henrik Stenson’s Wife?Henrik Stenson has been married to Emma Lofgren since 2006. Get to know her in this piece
-
Who Is Phil Mickelson’s Coach?Mickelson has worked with Australian Andrew Getson for the past three years.
