Willett champion of the DP World as Molinari wins Race to Dubai

Dubai: Danny Willett got his first win since the 2016 Masters with a resilient final round of 68 to clinch the European Tour’s season-ending DP World Tour Championship at 18 under, two strokes clear of Matt Wallace and Patrick Reed, on Sunday. Francesco Molinari secured the season-long Race to Dubai here by finishing tied for 26th at six-under.

The Englishman started the day at Jumeirah Golf Estates’ Earth Course a stroke clear — tied for first at 14-under — with fellow Masters champion Reed after opening with two 67s and a 68.

He quickly got up to 16-under with a 50-foot eagle on the second, before adding another birdie on seven. Bogies after the turn on holes 10 and 12 brought him back to 15 under for a level lead with Wallace, but he showed resolve to climb back into a solo lead with birdies on 14 and 15.

Reed missed a sitter of a five foot eagle putt to go joint top on the 16th, and Wallace (in the group ahead) also missed an eagle putt on 18, which would have seen him take a share of the lead at 17-under.

That was before Willett birdied the 17th hole, which Reed bogeyed to all but end the contest.

The drama didn’t end there though as Willett then hit his 18th drive onto the edge of the creek, but luckily he had enough grass behind the ball to recover and save par.

“We got off to a flying start and everything seemed rosy in camp,” said Willett. “Then obviously there was a blip down 10 and 12.

“I’m more proud of how I handled that and how I handled myself emotionally and how I finished those last five, six holes.

“Having not been in that position for a long time, you never know if you’re going to be back in the position. It’s nice that I got back in there and I handled it in the way in which I did.”

Last year’s Race to Dubai winner Tommy Fleetwood was the only man that could have caught Open champion Molinari in the money-list coming into this event, but the Englishman needed to win and hope the Italian finished below fifth.

Fleetwood could only manage a tied 16th finish at 10-under, which in the end wasn’t even enough to finish second in the Race to Dubai as he was overtaken by Reed, who finished tied second in this tournament.

“It’s more than I ever dreamt of achieving,” said Molinari. “I’ve seen guys that I think are better players than me not winning majors and not winning Order of Merits or the Race to Dubai. To achieve those things in one single season, is just incredible.

“It would have been nice to come here in better shape and close it out in better fashion, but I think obviously both Tommy and I, we’re really exhausted after a very long season.

“It would have been probably easier in a way to play against anyone else but him,” Molinari added of his Ryder Cup mate Fleetwood — with whom he won four matches as a pair against America in Paris in September.

“I know how talented he is and I really thought at some point, he was going to win it and put me in a tough spot.”