Danny Willett checked into his hotel on Monday and went to the gym. For him, this week's Turkish Airlines Open – the first of the season-ending three tournaments that comprise the Final Series – is another tour stop in his quest to top the European Tour order of merit
But, for others, among them Henrik Stenson, who currently leads the Race to Dubai standings, and Rory McIlroy, a trip to Belek is simply a step too far.
With heightened security concerns in Turkey, a cohort of players have decided that the incentives – a €6.5 million prizefund and the R2D points that go with it – are outweighed by anxieties over the unrest.
Stenson, McIlroy, Patrick Reed, Alex Noren, Louis Oosthuizen, Branden Grace and Shane Lowry are among those who have withdrawn from the 78-man, no cut tournament, with McIlroy effectively giving up his chance of a third successive Race to Dubai title.
In their absence, and especially that of Stenson, Willett has it in his own hands to emerge as the big winner as he chases down the Swede.
Only three players from the current top-10 in the Race to Dubai are competing: Willett (second), Tyrell Hatton (fifth) and Lee Westwood (10th)
McIlroy, who had become the poster boy of the tournament following Tiger Woods's earlier decision not to return to competition there, withdrew from the Turkish event on Saturday telling reporters at the WGC-HSBC Champions tournament his reason for doing so was "obvious" and that the matter had been weighing on his mind.
“I slept a lot better knowing I had made the decision,” said McIlroy, who has won the Race to Dubai three times in the past four years and who claimed the FedEx Cup title on the PGA Tour this season.
The gap between third-placed McIlroy and Stenson is €1,019,135, while the Northern Irishman trails second placed Willett by €757,748. In deciding not to keep his commitment to play in Turkey, McIlroy has effectively put paid to any chance to catching Stenson who himself returned back to his Florida base following his runner-up finish in Shanghai.
Stenson – intending to work with his swing coach Pete Cowan this week – will play the final two tournaments in the Race to Dubai, next week's Nedbank championship in Sun City (limited to 72 players) and the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai (which has a field of 60 players). There are no cuts in any of the three tournaments in the Final Series.
Fourth reserve
With McIlroy and Lowry withdrawing from the Turkish Airlines Open, and Graeme McDowell opting to play in the Shriners Hospital for Children’s Open in
Las Vegas
on the PGA Tour ahead of his defence of the Mayakoba Classic next week, it means Pádraig Harrington will be the only Irish player in the field in Belek. With so many withdrawals,
Paul Dunne
had moved up to fourth reserve on the list yesterday.
The weakened field is a serious blow to the European Tour’s efforts to showcase the Final Series run-in to the season’s finale in Dubai: it had already been reduced from its traditional four tournaments to three (with the decision to omit the HSBC Champions and with it the requirement for players to play three of the four events).
McDowell – who took a two-week break after his run of events in Europe which took in the Dunhill Links and the British Masters – resumes competitive play at the Shriners tournament where Séamus Power, who impressed for so long at the Sanderson Farms championship won by Cody Gribble, is also in the field.
Power fell away with a final round 77 that saw him drop down 23 places for a tied-29th finish that nevertheless earned him his first payday on the PGA Tour, a cheque for $26,705 that moved him to 103rd on the early FedEx Cup standings.
