Dubai: Defending Race to Dubai champion Henrik Stenson will miss this month’s DP World Tour Championship after suffering a bruised rib during a promotional event at last week’s WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai.
The Swede was suspended by wires from a harness while wearing a cape to appear like Superman during the stunt, and now looks to have bruised a bone. He went on to finish tied for second behind Justin Rose in China, but further aggravated the injury in Turkey at the weekend where he finished tied for 35th.
The two-time DP World Tour Championship winner, who won the honour back-to-back in 2013 and 2014 — and also lifted the overall Race to Dubai title twice in 2013 and 2016 — has now ruled himself out for the rest of the season, missing this year’s event at Jumeirah Golf Estates from November 16-19.
He was only ranked 11th in the Race to Dubai anyway and had no chance of winning it but could have still made the top 10 in the rankings to benefit from a share of the $5 million bonus pool.
Stenson is the second big name to drop out of this year’s event after Rory McIlroy, who also won two DP World Tour Championships (2012, 2015) and three Race to Dubai titles (2012, 2014, 2015). The Northern Irishman ruled himself out of the rest of the season with a rib injury after last month’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. He remains 10th in the Race to Dubai despite having not played the last four events.
Meanwhile, Justin Rose has moved up to second in the Race to Dubai after winning his second consecutive event in Turkey at the weekend.
The Englishman, who also rallied from eight shots behind to win in Shanghai by two shots last week, is now within touching distance of Race to Dubai leader Tommy Fleetwood after securing a one-shot win in Antalya.
Rose’s points tally for the season is now just under four million, putting him 134,839 points behind Fleetwood with only two events left.
The result means the Race to Dubai is now closer than ever before heading into this weekend’s Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa, followed by the season-ending DP World Tour Championship the weekend after.
Rose began the final day in Antalya two shots off the pace but a solid front nine put him in a four-way tie for the lead at the turn.
Birdies on 15 and 16 meant that he was tied for the lead with playing partner Nicolas Colsaerts at 17 under going in to the final hole of the tournament and when both men put their approach shots close, it was a matter of who could hold their nerve.
In the end it was Rose, who sunk his putt to secure back-to-back wins for the first time in his career.
“It’s like a bus, you wait ages for one and then two turn up at once,” said Rose, who is now eyeing only his second European Tour Order of Merit win since 2007. “It’s exciting to be within touching distance but I didn’t quite fully anticipate being so close to Tommy. I’m banking on trying to freshen up and continue my good form and momentum in Dubai.
“If I win there, then Tommy is going to have to play some good golf next week and in Dubai to beat me, and if he does, hats off to him. I just know I need to go and play well in Dubai and that’s been my mentality from the outset and that’s not going to change.”
