Bryson DeChambeau joins Race to Dubai in fourth place with Dubai Desert Classic victory

Sport360 staff 14:00 28/01/2019
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  • Bryson DeChambeau’s record-breaking triumph at the Dubai Desert Classic saw the American emphatically enter the European Tour’s Race to Dubai Rankings in fourth place after receiving 710 points for his resounding win.

    The 25-year-old, who has won four of his last nine events, cruised to victory at Emirates Golf Club with a tournament-record total of 24 under par and beat his nearest challenger Matt Wallace by a mammoth seven shots.

    The California native briefly gave the chasing pack a glimmer of hope with a bogey on the 12th following an errant drive, but birdied the 13th, 14th and 17th to seal an emphatic triumph.

    “It’s incredibly special,” said the world number five, who has taken up European Tour membership for this season. “I’ve always dreamed of winning any Tour event, and to have this many under my belt, I don’t even know what I have right now.

    “Being able to win internationally is something that I’ve always wanted to do after winning so many times in the States and to get it at the Dubai Desert Classic is incredible. It’s literally a dream come true. I couldn’t be more honoured to win this event.”

    Wallace’s final round four under par 68 saw him take second place on 17 under par which earned the Englishman 472 points, moving him from 24th to fifth in the Rankings on 619.6 points.

    “I wanted to give it a go today,” said Wallace. “I really wanted to put some pressure on Bryson. He was obviously struggling and scoring well. Credit to him, he’s played great today from what I hear and a worthy champion of this week and it’s great to have him here. But I’ll try and get him next time.”

    Ian Poulter, Paul Waring and past champions Sergio Garcia and Alvaro Quiros finished a shot further back to take a share of third place on sixteen under par.

    The quartet of players each receive 201.7 points with Poulter and Waring both jumping up to tenth in the season Rankings while Garcia surges to 18th from 48th and Quiros climbs up to 21st from 98th.

    Meanwhile, three-time winner Ernie Els and Australian Lucas Herbert made significant strides in the Race to Dubai with strong performances over the Majlis course.

    Herbert collected 98.3 points for his share of seventh place which leapfrogged him from 126th to 41st.

    Els started the final day just three shots adrift of DeChambeau but had to settle for a tied 12th finish after only picking up one shot on Sunday at Emirates Golf Club.

    The result secured the South African 67.3 points which moves him up to 36th from 69th in the Rankings.

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