Jon Rahm Aiming For High Finish In Race To Dubai

Spaniard Jon Rahm is one of five players who can clinch the Race to Dubai title at Jumeirah Golf Estates this weekend.

Favourite for the title is current Race to Dubai order of merit leader Bernd Wiesberger, who claimed his third title of the year in the Italian Open last month which elevated him to top spot.

Mathematically, Rahm, along with Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry and Matthew Fitzpatrick, have a chance of winning the Race to Dubai, but each need to have high finishes.

For Rahm, it’s tied second, but the player ranked five in the world is aiming for the top spot.

“I'm guessing it all depends on what the guys ahead of me do,” he told Arabian Business in an interview this week.

“If Bernd and Tommy don't play good, I'm guessing I might need a tie for second or a high finish. I'd rather just win, obviously, I know that'll take care of the rest.”

Rahm, who won Irish and Spanish Opens this year and finished second in the BMW PGA Championship in Wentworth, comes to Dubai with decent pedigree on a course that he said favours the ‘good ball strikers’.

Rahm won on his first visit to Jumeirah Golf Estates for the DP World Tour Championship in 2017 – a year he also won the Irish Open. And last year, he finished tied fourth.

“I've played here two years and I feel that each day I've had a completely different wind to the day before,” Rahm said.

“It's a really good golf course; greens are in really good shape, so you can make putts, and that's why the scores are always low. But it's mainly for me a ball striker's golf course. The greens are very big, very complicated, very undulating so there's a lot of movement, meaning you need to be accurate, which means you have can have short, doable putts.”

Rahm also comes to the tournament refreshed, having had six weeks off since his last competitive round in the Mutuactivos Open de España. 

Spaniard John Rahm is one of five players who can clinch the Race to Dubai title at Jumeirah Golf Estates this weekend.

Favourite for the title is current Race to Dubai order of merit leader Bernd Wiesberger, who claimed his third title of the year in the Italian Open last month which elevated him to top spot.

Mathematically, Rahm, along with Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry and Matthew Fitzpatrick, have a chance of winning the Race to Dubai, but each need to have high finishes.

For Rahm, it’s tied second, but the player ranked five in the world is aiming for the top spot.

“I'm guessing it all depends on what the guys ahead of me do,” he told Arabian Business in an interview this week.

“If Bernd and Tommy don't play good, I'm guessing I might need a tie for second or a high finish. I'd rather just win, obviously, I know that'll take care of the rest.”

Rahm, who won Irish and Spanish Opens this year and second in the BMW PGA Championship in Wentworth, comes to Dubai with decent pedigree on a course that he said favours the ‘good ball strikers’.

Rahm won on his first visit to Jumeirah Golf Estates for the DP World Tour Championship in 2017 – a year he also won the Irish Open. And last year, he finished tied fourth.

“I've played here two years and I feel that each day I've had a completely different wind to the day before,” Rahm said.

“It's a really good golf course; greens are in really good shape, so you can make putts, and that's why the scores are always low. But it's mainly for me a ball striker's golf course. The greens are very big, very complicated, very undulating so there's a lot of movement, meaning you need to be accurate, which means you have can have short, doable putts.”

Rahm also comes to the tournament refreshed, having had six weeks off since his last competitive round in the Mutuactivos Open de España.