Rahm targets ‘special’ double in late push for Race to Dubai glory

Jon Rahm is eager to seize his unexpected chance at Race to Dubai glory by making it a season-ending Rolex Series double at the DP World Tour Championship.

The Spaniard arrived at last week’s Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship 51st on the Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World and looking at a battle to even make it to the season finale at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

An 11th DP World Tour and sixth Rolex Series title later and he is now in sixth, knowing another win could see him crowned European No. 1 for a second time.

In five apperances over the Earth Course he has three wins and two other top fives, so holding up his end of the bargain looks a distinct possibility.

And should he achieve what looked highly improbable just six days ago, his next aim is to chase down Seve Ballesteros’ haul of six Harry Vardon Trophies and beyond.

“I’m coming in with a little extra incentive,” he said. “I really didn’t think even winning last week I was going to have a chance to possibly win the Race to Dubai at all. So that obviously gives this week a little bit more meaning than it did before.

“It would mean a great deal. I think it would just be more of a step towards hopefully getting closer to what Seve was able to achieve.

“But it would still be a long way to go. I think that second one would mean a lot, if I ever get to five or six, and then after that, you think about Monty and by then, you’ll probably be thinking about Rory, whatever he’s at.

“I think after the first one, those second, thirds, it becomes something, once you can approach whoever is next. Or once you’re done, you can reflect on it. It would be special, to not knowing I had a chance, come in the last two weeks and get it done.”

While Rahm’s victory at Yas Links turned his DP World Tour season on its head, it came off the back of a result at the BMW PGA Championship that would have seen him finish last were it not for withdrawals.

He also missed the cut at the US Open and had to miss the Open de Espana presented by Madrid — where he is a three-time winner — due to the impending birth of his fourth child last month.

He finished second at the US PGA Championship, however, and believes outside of the Majors, it has been another good year that has seen him rise back to sixth in the Official World Golf Ranking.

“I’ve played really good golf this year,” he said. “It’s just that unfortunately some of my not-so-good weeks happen to be in the Majors. Besides the PGA where I had a decent chance of winning, the other three Majors, I didn’t do a good enough job.

“Overall really good, but those tournaments matter so much to all of us that, you know, kicking myself a little bit over that.”

Rahm also insisted his three-year stay with LIV Golf was not the reason for a drop-off in his performance at golf’s major championships.

Rahm, who is leaving behind LIV to play a full DP World Tour schedule in 2027, said he is tired of what some media members ‘insinuate’ is a connection between playing a lighter, less competitive schedule and being less prepared for the majors.

LIV is set to wind down operations after plans to come out of bankruptcy with a so-called “LIV 2.0” model fell through. Rahm was among the many players who opted not to join LIV 2.0.

Reed Relishes Return to the PGA Tour: Patrick Reed is back in Dubai this week for the season-ending DP World Tour Championship. It’s the scene, but not the golf course, of perhaps the most consequential week of his career.

Reed won the Dubai Desert Classic in January at Emirates Golf Club and then decided not to renew his contract with LIV Golf, while the rival league was still getting full financial support from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.

He wanted a return to traditional golf. Reed lost in a playoff the following week in Bahrain, and then won the Qatar Masters. Just over two months later, the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia shifted its strategy and pulled the plug on LIV Golf.

That left dozens of players scrambling to find a tour. Reed, meanwhile, secured his return to the PGA Tour by being among the top 10 in the Race to Dubai who didn’t already have tour cards. He is No. 3 in the European ranking going into the final week.

“The year has been very satisfying,” Reed said Tuesday.

“To kind of make that step and make the opportunity, to have to finish in the top 10 to earn my spot on the PGA Tour, and basically come out and believe in myself and put all my eggs in one basket and go get the job done, means a lot.”