With many stars not playing, Patrick Reed aims to become 1st American to win Race to Dubai.... Thursday tee times

DP World Championship Tee Times

 Race to Dubai leader Patrick Reed is keen to make history this week at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.

The former Masters Tournament winner can become the first American to top the Race to Dubai Rankings Presented by Rolex at Jumeirah Golf Estates. His chances have been improved with defending champion Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Sergio Garcia, Paul Casey, Louis Oosthuizen and Shane Lowry, all deciding not play this week.

However, only a win will guarantee Reed top spot and the Ryder Cup star is keen to get over the line in style.

“To be over here, be able to be back play on The European Tour is always a treat for me,” Reed said. “To be in the position that I'm in, being kind of the leader coming in, is an awesome feeling.

“Shows that what I did throughout year was solid and really it comes down to this event. Come down and play well and hopefully make history.

“I feel comfortable with the way the game is right now. I feel good going into tomorrow, and it's just one of those things that it's last event of the year.

“It's a sprint. Go out there and leave it all out there and play as hard as you can and hopefully by late Sunday, we have a chance to win not only the tournament but The Race to Dubai.”

Reed already has a Major and two World Golf Championships on his CV, but says being crowned number one would rank highly on his list of accomplishments.

“It would definitely be up there near the top,” he added. “You know it's always been a dream of mine to not only win on the PGA Tour but also on the European Tour, and to win the FedEx Cup as well as The Race to Dubai.

“To be able to get one of those kind of goals that I've had set for my career, especially this early, would be great.”

Since topping the Race to Dubai Rankings Presented by Rolex in 2017, Tommy Fleetwood has finished third in 2018 and second in 2019.

The 29-year-old Englishman starts the week second behind Patrick Reed at Jumeirah Golf Estates, but knows that an improvement on last year's runner-up finish over the Earth Course would see him dislodge the American in the season-long standings.

“For all the guys that made it here, I think it's a great end to the year,” Fleetwood said

“I think whoever wins The Race to Dubai firstly will be a worthy winner. You know, you name those – Collin [Morikawa] and Patrick [Reed]; Patrick has won a World Golf Championships this year, he's been one of the most consistent players on the planet. Collin, major winner, clearly superstars, and I don't think it will do any harm whatsoever to have their names on the trophy. Obviously planning on that not to happen, anyway.

“It is one of the biggest prizes in golf. Yeah, looking forward to going against them and whoever the winner is, it will be a name worthy of going on that trophy.

Despite the lack of stars the Tour would love to see in Dubai this week, the $8m Rolex Series purse is a huge benefit to the top 60 who did make it, many of the lesser names have been playing week in and week out since the COVID break, for first place prizes of $200,000, a far cry from the $1.6m on the PGA Tour, and a lot less than the six or seven figure appearance money on offer in February at the Saudi International, a non Rolex Series event.

Bryan Angus (courtesy europeantour.com)