Martin Kaymer Wins the Race To Dubai

Martin Kaymer Wins the Race To Dubai

So today was the last day of the Dubai World Championship and the culmination of the Race to Dubai. I was volunteering as a marshall for this tournament, as I did last year, which is a great way to feel part of the action. Going in to the tournament there were only 2 players who could win the race to Dubai - Martin Kaymer and Graeme McDowell. The odds were weighted in Kaymer's favour as he went in as leader and it was up to McDowell to take the title from him. Unfortunately McDowell was not completely on his game and so Kaymer clinched it with a solid performance.

The DWC tournament title itself was a close battle with Ian Poulter and Robert Karlsson taking it to a play-off which was re-runs of the long 18th hole. The first run saw them both sink brilliant birdies but Poulter came unstuck at the 2nd go when he ended up in the bark from his tee shot. They both hit the green on their 3rd shot but Kaymer was about 4 feet away with Poulter having a much longer putt. Unfortunately Poulter was penalised on the green for replacing his ball on his marker after he lifted it. However, Karlsson sank his putt which meant that even without the penalty he would have won as Poulter missed his.

For me it was a great 5 days (including the Pro-Am) where you get a chance to get up close to the top players, lots of walking in the beautiful sunshine and and a chance to be part of a major event. Although it was exhausting I will hopefully be back next year doing it again!