With the European Tour’s Race to Dubai resuming this weekend at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, there’s a whole lot to play for with only a handful of events left on the schedule before the season-ending DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates.
Billy Horschel, who is the only player ranked inside the top five competing this weekend, is hoping to keep the momentum rolling after his win at the BMW PGA Championship as he looks to create history by becoming the first American to win the Race to Dubai.
“At the beginning of this year, the Race to Dubai, I’ll be honest, wasn’t one of my goals,” said Horschel, who sits in second in the season-long rankings behind compatriot Collin Morikawa. “But after playing well in the WGC events and playing decent in the majors, it became one of those goals.
“After I entered the top five in the Race to Dubai going to Wentworth, knowing if I had a good week, I would jump up, it became one of those goals to win the Race to Dubai.”
The 34-year-old has enjoyed a sold season on the European Tour with a win earlier this year at the WGC — Dell Technologies Match Play coming exactly one month after a tied second finish at the WGC — Workday Championship.
Those results, paired with the win at Wentworth saw the six-time PGA Tour winner pick up a whopping 3266.3 Race to Dubai points from just three events, leaving him in the perfect position for an assault on the title when he arrives for his debut at the DP World Tour Championship from November 18-21.
“The obvious goal for me, the big goal for me is to win the Race to Dubai,” he said. “To be the first American to do that, that’s a special thing to do, just like it was in becoming the first American to win a Rolex Series event and being the second American to win at Wentworth.
“It’s been a nice few weeks to accomplish some of those things that may not have been goals, but you find out that you’re in elite company, a rare air with some people, and so hopefully I can play well this week and then obviously it’s going to come down to that week in Dubai who plays the best out of some of those guys at the top.”
Horschel, who will be playing with his 70-year-old father this weekend, has also seen his stock rise in the Official World Golf Ranking off the back of his strong performances. Having started the year ranked 41st, Horschel soared up to 18th following his win at the BMW PGA Championship, but his caddie isn’t satisfied just yet.
“Fooch, my caddie, said before Wentworth that he wanted me to be top 20 in the world by the end of the year,” he said. “I’m 18th in the world now, so now he’s moved the finishing line and he wants to see if we can get to the top 10 in the world by end of the year. That’s another goal.”
