Report by Anand Datla
October 28, 2014: Shiv Kapur is among four Indians hoping to sneak into the field for the BMW Masters this week. The event in Shanghai is the first of four Final Series events leading to Dubai in November, where the European Number One shall be crowned. Kapur is lying 16 places from the cut off line and any withdrawals this week will push those below the red line into the field this week.
Gaganjeet Bhullar, SSP Chowrasia and Jeev Milkha Singh have less than remote chances of breaking into the field for the glittering event, but Kapur will wait for Wednesday to see if he can somehow edge up the list and get into the tournament. The event will have 70 players making to the first tee on Thursday.
Rory McIlroy’s decision to stay away from the greens till the event in Dubai has left the door open for a host of stars to try and work their way to the top of the charts. At the end of the Perth International last week, the top 110 players saw their earnings converted to points for the table that makes the Race to Dubai rankings.
McIlroy has a handy lead over Sergio Garcia in the Race to Dubai standings, but with the four Final Series events offering enhanced points to the race, it could still be wide open by the time the race reaches Jumeirah on November 20.
The top 10 on the Race to Dubai points table – every Euro is equivalent to a point
| Rank | Player | Nat | Events | Prize Money |
| 1 | Rory McIlroy | NIR | 14 | € 5,400,700 |
| 2 | Sergio Garcia | ESP | 14 | € 2,275,712 |
| 3 | Henrik Stenson | SWE | 17 | € 1,941,231 |
| 4 | Jamie Donaldson | WAL | 21 | € 1,890,559 |
| 5 | Thomas Bjorn | DEN | 23 | € 1,780,152 |
| 6 | Victor Dubuisson | FRA | 19 | € 1,683,900 |
| 7 | Martin Kaymer | GER | 15 | € 1,570,937 |
| 8 | Justin Rose | ENG | 11 | € 1,503,781 |
| 9 | Joost Luiten | NED | 23 | € 1,500,777 |
| 10 | Mikko Illonen | FIN | 22 | € 1,483,208 |
Each of the four Final Series events carries a basket of 10,000,000 points with the winner awarded 1,666,600 points. That leaves McIlroy vulnerable to attack by the chasing pack in the coming few weeks. With the Northern Irishman focusing on his legal battles, it will be difficult to predict how well he might do when he takes the course in Dubai in the third week of November.
Meanwhile, the focus this week is on China which hosts the first of these events. BMW Masters will followed by the WGC- HSBC Champions and the Turkish Airlines Open before the race concludes with the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai at the imposing Jumeirah Golf Estates.
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- Pros
- BMW Masters
- Final Series
- shiv kapur
