That's right, for the second year in a row Henrik Stenson has won the DP World Tour Championship, the final European Tour Playoff event, at the Earth course at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai. He finished with a score of 16-under par and a two-shot lead over his fellow Ryder Cup teammates Victor Dubuisson, Justin Rose, and Rory McIlroy. This is Stenson's 9th European Tour (ironically his last win being this tournament last year) victory and with it he moves to 2nd in the World Golf Rankings.
This is an impressive feat for Stenson, considering the status of his game just a few years ago. At the end of the 2011 season, he was ranked over 200th in the world and things weren't looking good for him. I remember watching opening rounds of European Tour tournaments and seeing Stenson's name at the bottom of the leaderboard, most of the time shooting over-par rounds. I thought at that time that we would be seeing the last of Stenson, but I was wrong. It's great to see how much he has improved over the past years and him becoming the second ranked golfer in the world really accents this change.
As we knew before, due to the about of points he accumulated before this tournament, Rory McIlroy officially wins the 2014 Race to Dubai Points Race, his second win of it in two years.
Again we saw low scores during the weekend rounds, with 5-6 under being a popular score amongst many players. On the other hand, Rafa Cabrera-Bello, who was in the final grouping with Stenson and who played phenominal golf Friday and Saturday, faltered with a final round of 75.
Frenchman Victor Dubuisson also had a good week. His T2 finish was enough to raise him to 17th in the World Golf Rankings, the highest he has ever been.
Finally, here is how our picks finished the tournament:
1) Rory McIlroy: T2 at 14-under (-14)
2) Justin Rose: T2 at 14-under (-14)
3) Mikko Ilonen: T55 at 4-over (+4)
Rory and Rose both gave Stenson a run for his money this week and were really close to winning it.
And that's it, the 2013-2014 European Tour Season is now over. Personally, I think this has been one of the better seasons of the European Tour and certainly one of the most entertaining. The Tour will take a one week break before the 2014-2015 season starts with the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa.
-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews
Henrik Stenson wins the DP World Tour Championship for the second year in a row
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