Matthew Fitzpatrick claimed a second victory at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai with Lee Westwood winning the Harry Vardon Trophy for the third time as the 2020 Race to Dubai culminated in a dramatic afternoon at Jumeirah Golf Estates.
Fitzpatrick entered the final day of the fourth Rolex Series event of the season in a share of the lead. After starting his round with four birdies he raced ahead and was on course to win the Race to Dubai for the first time before Westwood birdied two of his last three holes to snatch solo second and the European Number One crown.
Fitzpatrick matched his fellow Englishman’s round of 68 to finish one shot ahead at 15 under par to win a first Rolex Series event and take his haul of European Tour trophies – which includes the 2016 DP World Tour Championship, Dubai title – to six.
For Westwood, a season which started with a second Rolex Series victory and his 25th on the European Tour overall at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA, ended with the 47-year-old being named European Number One for the third time, 20 years after he first lifted the Harry Vardon Trophy.
The ten-time Ryder Cup star first achieved the honor in 2000, and his victory at the 2009 DP World Tour Championship, Dubai saw him crowned the inaugural winner of the Race to Dubai, the year before he went on to reach World Number One
Patrick Reed entered the week on top of the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex and remained there for much of the day but bogeys on the 16th and 17th saw him finish in a tie for third at 13 under par and just one shot away from being the first American to take Europe’s season-long honors.
Norwegian Viktor Hovland finished alongside Reed in third place, one shot clear of Finn Sami Välimäki and England’s Laurie Canter, with Frenchman Victor Perez at ten under.
European Tour Release, Dec 13, 2020
