Olesen climbs to ninth in European Rour Race to Dubai

Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen fended off a storming fightback from England’s David Horsey to claim a three-stroke victory at the Turkish Airlines Open and win his fourth European Tour title. This victory saw the 26-year-old gain a staggering 1,065,388 points to catapult from 38th to ninth in the Race to Dubai rankings with a total of 1,751,589 points for the season and his spot in the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, taking place at Jumeirah Golf Estates from Thursday 17 to Sunday 20 November, already assured.

Olesen managed to hold his ground and get the win despite his seven-shot overnight advantage being slashed to one stroke in the final round.

Horsey and Haotong Li of China were runners-up as both of them shot a closing 65 to finish 17 under, while Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger was two strokes behind them to claim fourth place.

Horsey reached the turn in 29 after birdieing four of his first seven holes and holed a 30-footer at the ninth, as Olesen cancelled out his gain at the fifth with a three-putt bogey at the ninth.

Olesen’s two-stroke lead was temporarily halved before heading to the back nine when Horsey posted a birdie at the 12th.

The Dane restored his lead by getting up-and-down from the greenside bunker at the same hole and then extended his lead with birdies at the 14th and 15th. 

With four successive birdies from the 13th Li climbed up the leaderboard to eventually share second spot with Horsey after the Englishman bogeyed his effort at the 16th.

Olesen posted his first bogey at the same hole to see his lead cut to three, but completed his final two holes in regulation to wrap up the tournament.

Li and Horsey’s second place finish gained them 557,0778 each in the Race to Dubai with both players making great jumps. The Asian surged from 41st to 19th and upped his season-tally to 1,224,425 points while Horsey climbed from 53rd to 28th. 

Wiesberger claimed 319,726 points after finishing fourth that has helped him climb one spot into 11th as he edges closer to the Race to Dubai’s top 10 with one event to go before the players face off in the prestigious season-ending event in the UAE. His total points are now 1,745,195.

It was also a fantastic result for George Coetzee of South Africa as he has sealed his place in the DP World Tour Championship after finishing fifth and gaining 271,416 points, which has helped him rise from 85th to 51st in the Race to Dubai leaderboard.

USA’s David Lipsky and Joakim Lagergren of Sweden both shared sixth and sealed 208,721 points. Lipsky moved from 59th to 44th while Lagergren rose from 51st to 40th.

Spain’s Pablo Larrazabal finished eighth to claim 162,192 points to climb into the Race to Dubai top 50 from 58th with a season-total of 649,338 points. 

Larrazabal’s compatriot Nacho Elvira won 145,205 points after finishing in ninth to climb up from 50th to 43^rd in the rankings.

Meanwhile England’s Danny Willett failed to reclaim top spot in the Race to Dubai rankings after carding a four-over 75 to end the week tied-68^th. Ryder Cup teammate Lee Westwood of England also missed out on the chance to close the gap on the front-runners after finishing two-under in Turkey.