Race to Dubai 2009

Lee Westwood took the glory in the first edition of the Race to Dubai in 2009, finishing ahead of his rivals following a thrilling final event. Ireland’s Padraig Harrington had been voted the Golfer of the Year in both 2007 and 2008 before the Race to Dubai was launched, but he could not follow it up for a third year in a row and had to settle for 15th place in the money list.

The Race was launched in November 2008 and Westwood kept himself in contention with a string of consistent performances, before a final flourish in the last couple of months saw him pip Rory McIlroy to top spot. Westwood’s first tournament success came at the Portugal Masters in October, and he then triumphed at the inaugural Dubai World Championship thanks to a masterful display.

Westwood, who had also been named Golfer of the Year in 1998 and 2008, took home $1.5 million of the Race to Dubai’s $7.5 million bonus pool, with the remainder being shared by the next 14 players according to their rankings. The bonus pool was originally intended to be worth $10 million, but the economic problems experienced globally in 2009 led to the bonus pool being decreased.

Germany’s Martin Kaymer and English duo Ross Fisher and Paul Casey rounded out the rest of the top five behind Westwood and McIlroy, in a year when the four Majors were won by Argentina’s Angel Cabrera (Masters), the USA’s Lucas Glover (US Open) and Stewart Cink (The Open) and South Korea’s Yang Yong-eun (US PGA).

The top 15 Race 2009 finishers and the prize money won by each can be seen in the table below: