Philadelphia, PA (My Sportsbook) - EUROPEAN TOUR - DUBAI WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, Jumeirah Golf Estates (Earth Course), Dubai, United Arab Emirates - After almost a full year of battling, the Race to Dubai ends this week and there will be a winner.
Mathematically, four players have a chance at the money title. Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland is first, followed by Englishman Lee Westwood, German Martin Kaymer and another Englishman, Ross Fisher.
With a victory on Sunday, McIlroy, Westwood or Kaymer would win the Race to Dubai. Fisher can win the Dubai World Championship, but isn't guaranteed the title formerly called Order of Merit champion.
If Fisher, who won a few weeks back at the Volvo World Match Play Championship, emerges victorious, he would need McIlroy or Westwood to finish worse than second place. If Fisher wins, Kaymer can't do anything to catch him.
McIlroy, 20, moved back in front of Westwood last week thanks to a runner-up at the Hong Kong Open. Westwood tied for 54th. If McIlroy wins the Race to Dubai, he will be the second-youngest money winner on the European Tour behind only Seve Ballesteros.
The winner of the year-long Race to Dubai gets $1.5 million and a seven-year exemption on the European Tour. The top 15 players after the event will split a prize pool of $7.5 million.
Only the top 60 players on the money list are eligible to play this week, but two golfers are out of the field. Paul Casey, ranked fifth, had to withdraw with a rib injury and Anthony Kim, No. 36, also decided against playing at the Earth Course.
The venue was designed by Greg Norman and took five years to create.
This is the final individual event of the 2009 season, but the Omega Mission Hills World Cup will take place in two weeks. The Swedish pair of Robert Karlsson and Henrik Stenson won last year and are scheduled to defend the title.
LPGA TOUR
LPGA TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP, The Houstonian Golf & Country Club, Houston, Texas - This is the inaugural LPGA Tour Championship and it took the place on the schedule formerly occupied by the ADT Championship.
It also marks the first time in over 20 years that the LPGA Tour is in the Houston area for a full-field event and there is a lot on the line come Thursday.
The Player of the Year race, led by the Rookie of the Year Jiyai Shin, is up for grabs. Shin already wrapped up the rookie honor and can become the first player since Nancy Lopez in 1978 to win both accolades.
Cristie Kerr is in the best position to catch Shin for Player of the Year and the money title. World No. 1 Lorena Ochoa hasn't had her normal dominant season, but it is always a factor.
The 120-player field will be cut to the low 70 women after the second round, then an additional cut will be made after the third round to the low 30 players battling for the title.
Michelle Wie finally won her first LPGA Tour title on Sunday at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational. She might be the favorite this week with all of the momentum on her side.
CHAMPIONS TOUR
CHAMPIONS TOUR Q SCHOOL, TPC Scottsdale (Champions Course), Scottsdale, Arizona - The pressure-packed final stage of Champions Tour Q School starts on Tuesday.
The top-five finishers on Friday will receive full exemptions next year on the Champions Tour. The next seven finishers, Nos. 6-12, get conditional status in 2010 on the elder circuit.
Former winners in the last few years like Denis Watson and R.W. Eaks are in the field after losing their status in 2009. Chip Beck, Bobby Clampett and Fulton Allem are also scheduled to tee it up to try and gain full-time status on the Champions Tour.
The championship is 72 holes of stroke play with no cut.
Robert Thompson returns to successfully defend a title no one wants to have to defend year in and year out.
