European Tour thanks Sheikh Mansoor and DSC for ‘unwavering belief’

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

The European Tour of golf has thanked Sheikh Mansoor Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Sports Council (DSC), and the Council for their ‘unwavering belief’ and credited their support for a ‘very special’ double-header in Dubai.

The Golf in Dubai Championship presented by DP World and the DP World Tour Championship, which is the climax of the Race to Dubai, brought the curtains down on the European Tour’s 2020 season last weekend.

The DP World Tour Championship was the first international event in Dubai, as well as the 2020 European Tour, to be played with spectators in attendance since the COVID-19 outbreak.

Sheikh Mansoor was present at the Jumeirah Golf Estate on Sunday to crown Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick, the 2016 champion who clinched his second DP World Tour Championship title following a dramatic final day of action.

The crazy finish to the Championship also saw Fitzpatrick’s 47-year-old compatriot and winner of the inaugural DP World Tour Championship in 2009, Lee Westwood, clinch the Race to Dubai title as the other contenders, American Patrick Reed and Englishman Laurie Canter, had a meltdown on the final holes.

“We were truly honoured to have Sheikh Mansoor Bin Mohammed in attendance at the DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates,” said Tom Phillips, the Head of European Tour’s Middle East operations.

“We sent a clear message to more than 700 million households around the world that Dubai is safe and Dubai is open for business again!

“On behalf of all the team in the European Tour Dubai office, I would like to express my sincere thanks to Dubai Sports Council for facilitating this visit, but also for your support of the Golf in Dubai Championship presented by DP World, and the DP World Tour Championship over the past two weeks.

“To finish this year with not one but two European Tour events in Dubai was beyond all our expectations a few months ago. But with your unwavering belief, loyalty and support we managed to achieve something very special.

“We couldn’t do it without you and we are already excited for what 2021 will bring.” Organised under the patronage of Sheikh Mansoor, the 12th edition of the DP World Tour Championship saw the leading 66 golfers on the Race to Dubai rankings battle it out on the Earth Course of Jumeirah Golf Estates for one of the biggest prize-purse in golf in the European Tour’s season-ending tournament from Dec.10 to 13.

Since its inception in 2009, the DP World Tour Championship has been one of the most high-profile events on the golfing calendar, with past winners including Westwood, who is renowned for being one of the greatest golfers never to win a major, Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stenson, Danny Willett and the reigning champion Jon Rahm, who last November claimed the title for the second time in three years.

This year's DP World Tour Championship, the season-finale of the Rolex Series, saw 12 of the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking in action, including the likes of Colin Morikawa, Patrick Reed, Tommy Fleetwood, and Ian Poulter.