Race to Dubai 2011
The Race to Dubai 2011 differed from the previous two competitions because it covered 52 tournaments including three new ones – the Volvo Golf Champions in the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Sicilian Open in Sicily and the Iskandar Johor Open in Malaysia. This expanded schedule of events meant that whilst the 2009 and 2010 competitions both ended in November, the Race to Dubai 2011 wouldn’t reach its climax at the Dubai World Championship until December.
Lee Westwood won the Race to Dubai 2009 and Martin Kaymer won the competition in 2010, so it was no great surprise that both of these players were among the top 15 (in 5th and 3rd place respectively) after the penultimate tournament in the 2011 competition. However, it was Luke Donald who was getting the most attention when the Dubai World Championship got underway.
Donald had already topped the US money list for the season, and he was at the top of the European money list as the Race to Dubai competition entered its final tournament, so if this talented player from England could put in a good enough performance in the Dubai World Championship, he would be the first ever player to top both the US and European money lists in the same season.
The good news for Donald and his supporters is that he did just that. Over the four days of the Dubai World Championship, he pulled away from his closest Race to Dubai rival, Rory McIlroy, and went on to finish in third place in the final tournament of the race. That was enough to make him the Race to Dubai Champion for 2011 and also enough to put Donald in the history books for topping both money lists.
The final top 15 rankings for the Race to Dubai 2011 competition were as follows:
|
PLAYER |
NATION |
PRIZE MONEY (€) |
|
|
|
|
01 |
Luke Donald |
ENG |
5,323,400 |
02 |
Rory McIlroy |
NIR |
4,002,168 |
03 |
Martin Kaymer |
GER |
3,489,033 |
04 |
Charl Schwartzel |
RSA |
2,929,829 |
05 |
Lee Westwood |
ENG |
2,439,601 |
06 |
Alvaro Quiros |
SPA |
2,259,242 |
07 |
Anders Hansen |
DEN |
2,074,366 |
08 |
Sergio Garcia |
ESP |
1,962,723 |
09 |
Thomas Björn |
DEN |
1,814,115 |
10 |
Simon Dyson |
ENG |
1,694,779 |
11 |
Darren Clarke |
NIR |
1,590,415 |
12 |
Miguel Angel Jimenez |
ESP |
1,570,454 |
13 |
Peter Hanson |
SWE |
1,500,590 |
14 |
Alexander Noren |
SWE |
1,427,643 |
15 |
Louis Oosthuizen |
RSA |
1,409,126 |
