Tommy Fleetwood is Europe’s best - now he wants the world No. 1 spot
Englishman seals Race to Dubai title after Justin Rose misses out in final round
After pipping Justin Rose to the European Tour Race to Dubai title Tommy Fleetwood has set his sights on becoming the No. 1 golfer in the world.
The Englishman sealed the European top spot in Dubai yesterday after finishing joint-21st in the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.
In the lead going into the fourth round, Rose was three-under after 11 holes, but he bogeyed three out of the next five as he slipped to joint-fourth in Dubai.
Rose’s poor back nine meant that Fleetwood would secure the title as well as moving into the world’s top 20.
The 26-year-old is now pushing for even greater heights after a season that has seen him win at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and the HNA Open de France, and finish fourth at the US Open.
“My ultimate goal in life is to be the best player in the world,” Fleetwood told the European Tour website. “That will always be the same. Whether I achieve it or not is another thing but I’ll always strive for that.
“I think this year has been a big year in terms of my career... I have put myself on the world stage a bit more.”
Fleetwood will now be aiming higher. “I’ll always have high expectations but we’ll see where we can go. Like I said, the ultimate goal - and I think everybody in the profession should have that goal - is to try to be number one in the world.
“I’ll always have 2017 Race to Dubai Number One. It’s a very big thing to achieve.”
Spain’s Jon Rahm carded a final round 67 to win the DP World Tour Championship. Rahm finished one shot ahead of Shane Lowry and Kiradech Aphibarnrat.
For rookie of the Year Rahm it was his second Rolex Series event victory this season. “It’s hard to sum it up,” he said. “An incredible week, I could not be more proud of what I’ve done this week. It could be very easy to just be content with getting the award and just being here and trying to play the best.
“I didn’t plan on being here at the beginning of the year and I sure didn’t plan on winning it so it’s an incredible feeling.”