McIlroy and Stenson lead all-star cast in Dubai

The 2014 European Tour season reaches a climax this week with the sixth edition of the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, where Henrik Stenson will defend his title and Rory McIlroy will be crowned The Race to Dubai champion for the second time.

Thanks chiefly to his extraordinary exploits over the summer, McIlroy has built an unassailable lead in The Race to Dubai but there is still plenty to play for at the Greg Norman-designed Earth course, which has hosted the US$8 million season finale every year since its inauguration in 2009.

Fresh from finishing third in Turkey last week, Stenson will have one eye on the history books as he seeks to become the first player to mount a successful defence of the DP World Tour Championship title, and another eye on the Bonus Pool awarded to the top 15 in The Race to Dubai.

Despite being in second place in The Race to Dubai, the Swede has no chance of retaining the Harry Vardon Trophy due to McIlroy’s brilliance but, with ten million points up for grabs at Jumeirah Golf Estates, the 38 year old can further close the gap to the World Number One.

He said: “Last year was really special. I went in there with a great opportunity to do something very special, and luckily I delivered. So of course it was very pleasing, and I’m excited about going back to defend my title. I can’t win The Race to Dubai again, but I can win the tournament so I’ll be going all out to do just that.

“It’s going to be good fun. It’s another chance to finally defend a title, so of course I’m hoping to play well this week and give it a shot. I haven’t managed to defend a title yet in my career, so it would be a pretty good week to get that monkey off my back.

“I’m sure it’s going to bring back a lot of good memories when I go back. I made Dubai my home for almost ten years before we settled in Florida, so I’ve got a lot of friends there and it always feels like coming home whenever I go back.”

Stenson won both the tournament and The Race to Dubai in emphatic fashion last year, closing with a round of 64 to finish six strokes clear of the field on 25 under par – so bettering by two McIlroy’s winning score in 2012, when the Northern Irishman finished with five successive birdies to pip Justin Rose by two shots.

That sealed a first Harry Vardon Trophy for McIlroy, who was guaranteed a second last week after his then-nearest rivals in The Race to Dubai – Marcel Siem, Jamie Donaldson and Sergio Garcia – all missed out on the victory they needed in Turkey to ensure that the race would go to the wire.

McIlroy raced away from his rivals in a stunning four-week spell over the summer, in which he won The 143rd Open Championship, the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and the US PGA Championship.

Despite the best efforts of Siem, who finished joint eighth in last week’s Turkish Airlines Open by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, McIlroy remained untouchable and duly became the youngest player since Sandy Lyle in 1980 to win the Harry Vardon Trophy on more than one occasion.

Having captured his maiden European Tour title in Turkey, Brooks Koepka will be bidding to further enhance his burgeoning reputation when he makes his debut in the DP World Tour Championship.

Other notable names in this week’s stellar field include former champions Robert Karlsson and Lee Westwood, who goes into the tournament in fine fettle after finishing alongside Siem in tied eighth place last week.

The same applies to his compatriot and Ryder Cup team-mate Ian Poulter, who pushed Koepka all the way but ultimately came up one shot shy of the American.

Poulter will be determined to make amends for that near miss and he boasts a tremendous record in the desert, with two runner-up finishes to his name – behind Stenson last year and in 2010, when he lost out in a play-off to Karlsson.

His fellow Ryder Cup star Rose, who finished in a tie for fourth in the BMW Masters recently, will also be hoping to continue his impressive record in the DP World Tour Championship, having followed up his runner-up finish in 2012 with another top ten 12 months ago.