The DP World Tour Championship, held on the 19th at the Jumeirah Golf Course in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, has created tension since the first tournament in 2009.
This is not surprising considering the size of the field of 50 players. This year, seven of the world’s top 15 will compete, including second-placed Rory McIlroy and third-placed Jon Rahm, who claimed his fifth Race to Dubai title on Sunday.
Below we’ve listed in chronological order the five tournaments that made it to the final hole.
2010
Sweden’s Robert Karlsson was the winner, but what happened to Britain’s Ian Poulter also stands out.
On the second playoff hole, Poulter was penalized one stroke for dropping the ball on his marker and causing it to move. He finished the match with a bogey on the hole, and Carlsen, who has 11 wins in his career on the DP World Tour, recorded a birdie.
Poulter missed a birdie putt to win in regulation.
“You could have built a house on top of it if it was six inches short of the hole,” he later said. “But it slows down and takes a bit of force and misses. “Obviously I’m a little disappointed, and I’m sad it ended like this.”
2015
With a two-shot lead with two holes remaining, this tournament probably belongs to McIlroy.
Until he teed off on the 17th hole and was soon faced with a 35-foot putt for bogey. Nonetheless, he shot 18 for a one-shot victory over Andy Sullivan.
“The tee shot was 40 yards from the line,” McIlroy said at the time. “It was just a terrible golf shot. I wasn’t happy with the shot and I wasn’t very happy with myself, but I was able to get over it quickly enough to hole the putt. The more pressure I have, the more meaning I have, the better my putting seems to be, which is a good thing.”
2016
For Matt Fitzpatrick, who needed a birdie putt to win, 4 feet may have felt as long as 40 feet.
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“The 18th green was the most nerve-wracking moment, with a 4-foot putt over the top,” he told reporters. “You have to do it. Fortunately, so far so good. “It doesn’t always work out that way.”
Late in the final round, Fitzpatrick trailed Tyrrell Hatton by a shot. But Hatton found water with his drive on the 18th hole, leading to a bogey that paved the way for Fitzpatrick, who hit his second shot into the bunker on the par 5 and went close to set up the winning putt.
2019
At one stage in the final round, Tommy Fleetwood was eight strokes behind Rahm.
I looked closely, but that wasn’t the case.
Fleetwood had six birdies after that to shoot a 7-under 65 before Rahm abruptly stopped play. He needed a birdie at 18 to put Fleetwood away.
After a huge drive, he hit his 4-iron approach shot into the bunker. He chipped to within 4 feet and made the putt.
“For the first seven holes, I felt like I couldn’t miss a beat. My putting was unbelievable. Then one bad tee shot and three-putt took everything in the wrong direction,” Rahm said later. “It showed the grit, determination and heart to win,” he added.
2020
Fitzpatrick took a shot at Lee Westwood and made a 3-foot par on the 72nd hole to win for the second time. After hitting his drive into the rough, Fitzpatrick returned to the fairway and found the putting surface with his third ball.
Westwood, then 47, also had cause to celebrate as he won the Race to Dubai. He won the European Prize Title (then known as the Order of Merit) in 2000 and again in 2009.
“It was a great finish,” Westwood told reporters. “I sat there and watched. This tournament is always exciting, it keeps going, there are always thrills and spills.”
