Jon Rahm will make his debut in the grand finale of the European Tour this Thursday in the World Tour Championship at the epic Jumeirah Golf in Dubai. It’s the last tournament of the European Tour season, an exclusive event only open to the top sixty of the year, which Rahm will go into as fourth in the order of merit.
There is no possibility for Rahm to win the Race to Dubai, because he’s played in very few European Tour tournaments, among other factors, and has been focused on the PGA Tour in the US. In fact, only Justin Rose and Patrick Reed have played in fewer tournaments than Rahm in Europe of those who qualified for the Final in Dubai.
Jon has truly accomplished an incredible feat. At the beginning of March, he didn’t even have the European Tour card, and eight months later he’s playing in the grande finale, starting in fourth place, having had the mathematical possibility to win the Race up to the second-to-last tournament of the year and with a win under his belt from the Irish Open in the Rolex Series last summer.
Jon’s big season in the European Tour was reflected in the award he received as Rookie of the Year in the tour, known as the Sir Henry Cotton trophy, a tribute to one of the biggest golf legends of the Old Continent. He has such a big advantage over second place that there is no way he can lose his first place position, no matter what happens in the Final.
Rahm will play in his first Final in Dubai with Sergio García, the second-to-last game of the day, due to the fact that the tee times in this DP World Tour Championship are established according to a strict order in the Race to Dubai rankings.