Grand finale for the European golf tour, in Dubai, where the first magnificent 60 players compete, from today to Sunday, in the DP World Tour Championship, at the end of which the 2012 champion will be crowned. There are 6,3 million up for grabs euros for the tournament and a first coin of more than one million euros. There is also a substantial cash prize for the top ten finishers of the "championship" (the Race to Dubai), made up of 45 tournaments around the world: 3,75 million dollars, one million of which goes to the first.
The spotlights are on Rory McIlory, current number one in the world ranking, leader of the European and American tour rankings. The 23-year-old Northern Irishman is preparing to repeat the feat accomplished last year by the Englishman Luke Donald, winner of both circuits. After the third place in Singapore nobody can unseat Rory from the podium, but it's safe to bet that McIlory will do everything to win the last race too. It's true that last week the champion didn't make the cut in Hong Kong, but it was a small hiccup in a brilliant season, a moment of tiredness for a player who won everything this year, including a another major and his second Ryder Cup.
Direct follower of Rory, in the Race to Dubai, is the Swede Peter Hanson. The two are playing together today because the starts are in order of merit, starting from the last in the standings to get to the first, so everyone will have to deal with his closest rival. Immediately before McIlory and Hanson two champions of the caliber of the English Justin Rose and the South African Louis Oosthuizen start, still ahead of Ian Poulter and Branden Grace, while fourth from last are Francesco Molinari and Luke Donald, respectively seventh and eighth in the Race to Dubai. The national Chicco has to contend with the world number two, winner of the Dunlop Phoenix in Japan last week, a move that allowed Donald to once again overtake Tiger Woods in the world rankings and regain second position. Molinari has to keep his concentration and abandon himself to his splendid game, trying to preserve or improve his seventh place.
Going back, departures and standings, we find Graeme McDowell and Paul Lawrie and before them Nicolas Colsaerts and Lee Westwood, all great protagonists of Ryder. However, the heart beats for start number 23, seven teams before the summit. Here we find Matteo Manassero, the nineteen year old who has thrilled us in the last few tournaments. The teenager who brought home a resounding victory in Singapore, prevailing over a champion of the caliber of Oosthuizen in the playoffs, the boy who managed to make us dream again last week in Hong Kong, where he finished fourth. Manassero is in top form, he has improved his long game and found the right fit in his putts, it would be fantastic if he managed to climb further positions and enter the top ten in the global standings. It won't be easy, however, because the field is one of those who are addressed by her and includes, in addition to the aforementioned champions, always green players such as the Spaniard Sergio Garcia and Miguel Angel Jimenez, winner of the Hong Kong Open, with a game unsurpassed on the fourth day. Finally, Martin Kaymer, Thomas Bjorn and Charl Schwartzel should be mentioned. All ready to cross irons and sticks to give life to the last great golf show of the European season.
With the doors of the 2012 Race closed, however, there is no need to list the mourning flags. The 2013 calendar is ready and starts right away, after just one week's break. In fact, it starts again on December 6 in Durban, South Africa, with The Nelson Mandela Championship. And let's hope that the TVs continue to follow the two tours, the European and the US (where the best European players play for most of the year), as they did this year, because golf is beautiful and finally he also speaks Italian. For those who want to follow the Dubai challenge, therefore, appointment on Skydue starting from 9 in the morning live and, in repeat, during the day and in the evening.
The spotlights are on Rory McIlory, current number one in the world ranking, leader of the European and American tour rankings. The 23-year-old Northern Irishman is preparing to repeat the feat accomplished last year by the Englishman Luke Donald, winner of both circuits. After the third place in Singapore nobody can unseat Rory from the podium, but it's safe to bet that McIlory will do everything to win the last race too. It's true that last week the champion didn't make the cut in Hong Kong, but it was a small hiccup in a brilliant season, a moment of tiredness for a player who won everything this year, including a another major and his second Ryder Cup.
Direct follower of Rory, in the Race to Dubai, is the Swede Peter Hanson. The two are playing together today because the starts are in order of merit, starting from the last in the standings to get to the first, so everyone will have to deal with his closest rival. Immediately before McIlory and Hanson two champions of the caliber of the English Justin Rose and the South African Louis Oosthuizen start, still ahead of Ian Poulter and Branden Grace, while fourth from last are Francesco Molinari and Luke Donald, respectively seventh and eighth in the Race to Dubai. The national Chicco has to contend with the world number two, winner of the Dunlop Phoenix in Japan last week, a move that allowed Donald to once again overtake Tiger Woods in the world rankings and regain second position. Molinari has to keep his concentration and abandon himself to his splendid game, trying to preserve or improve his seventh place.
Going back, departures and standings, we find Graeme McDowell and Paul Lawrie and before them Nicolas Colsaerts and Lee Westwood, all great protagonists of Ryder. However, the heart beats for start number 23, seven teams before the summit. Here we find Matteo Manassero, the nineteen year old who has thrilled us in the last few tournaments. The teenager who brought home a resounding victory in Singapore, prevailing over a champion of the caliber of Oosthuizen in the playoffs, the boy who managed to make us dream again last week in Hong Kong, where he finished fourth. Manassero is in top form, he has improved his long game and found the right fit in his putts, it would be fantastic if he managed to climb further positions and enter the top ten in the global standings. It won't be easy, however, because the field is one of those who are addressed by her and includes, in addition to the aforementioned champions, always green players such as the Spaniard Sergio Garcia and Miguel Angel Jimenez, winner of the Hong Kong Open, with a game unsurpassed on the fourth day. Finally, Martin Kaymer, Thomas Bjorn and Charl Schwartzel should be mentioned. All ready to cross irons and sticks to give life to the last great golf show of the European season.
With the doors of the 2012 Race closed, however, there is no need to list the mourning flags. The 2013 calendar is ready and starts right away, after just one week's break. In fact, it starts again on December 6 in Durban, South Africa, with The Nelson Mandela Championship. And let's hope that the TVs continue to follow the two tours, the European and the US (where the best European players play for most of the year), as they did this year, because golf is beautiful and finally he also speaks Italian.
For those who want to follow the Dubai challenge, therefore, appointment on Skydue starting from 9 in the morning live and, in repeat, during the day and in the evening.
