Billy Horschel is excited to tee it up in what he describes as a ‘special event’ as the DP World Tour Championship marks the end of the 2024 Race to Dubai.
The American, who picked up his second BMW PGA Championship victory with a memorable play-off triumph at the prestigious Wentworth Club in September, returns to Jumeirah Golf Estates for the first time in three years this week as he looks to add another overseas crown to his collection.
The World Number 15 defeated Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy and South African Thriston Lawrence, the leading two players on the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex, in a thrilling play-off at Wentworth and will be looking to make it back-to-back Rolex Series victories when he tees it up on the Earth Course.
“I’m excited to be here. It’s their last event of the year. It means a lot to everyone who gets here. It’s very similar to our TOUR Championship on the PGA TOUR,” said Horschel.
“When I won Wentworth, this wasn’t on my schedule originally and then when I won, I felt like I needed to make sure I show up and attend a special event, and that’s what I’m doing. I’m looking forward to hopefully a great week. I haven’t done a lot of practise over the last month. I’m a little rusty on the greens but we’ll just see what happens.
“I support this tour. I love this tour. I think the world of this tour. But at the same time, I don’t support this tour 20-plus events out of the year.
“Obviously the PGA TOUR is where I play mostly but I want to make sure that these guys understand how special this tour is, how special I think it is, and then what I think of them as golfers. I think they are really great players out here.”
A star-studded field is assembled for the fifth and final Rolex Series event of the year, with Genesis Scottish Open winner Robert MacIntyre looking to cap off a memorable season both at home and abroad.
The 2023 Ryder Cup winner claimed his maiden PGA TOUR title by winning the RBC Canadian Open with dad Dougie on the bag before becoming the first Scot since Colin Montgomerie in 1999 to win the Genesis Scottish Open in July, bettering his runner-up finish from 2023.
“It’s been a hell of a year. I probably couldn’t have scripted what’s happened to be honest, from obviously the Ryder Cup, and the Ryder Cup until now has been an absolute roller coaster,” MacIntyre said.
“I’ve dreamed of having a season like this but is the reality going to happen, you never really think it will happen. But it’s been probably the fairy tale situations in pretty much a year. It’s been a hell of a time.
“I feel great. Game is in good shape. A couple of tweaks here and there. Last week was obviously good. I was in a position, I felt, going into the weekend with a chance, going into Sunday had somewhat of a chance. Obviously Paul had an unbelievable week and great Sunday finish. So it really took it out of any hands there but I pushed hard at the end and kind of accepted that it was good or bad. If I pulled it off, I had a chance, and if it didn’t come off, we were potentially making bogey if not double, and that’s what happened on Sunday.
“I’m happy with it. I took it on. It didn’t work out, and go again this week. And if I have a chance come the sixth hole on Sunday, then we’ll do the same thing. We’ll either go for it or we don’t.”
The 28-year-old Scot is one of seven members of Luke Donald’s victorious European Team in Rome, including Englishman Tyrrell Hatton – who finished second to compatriot Paul Waring at last week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship – and Tommy Fleetwood, who finished in a tie for sixth at Yas Links.
Dubai resident Fleetwood has his sights set on his second victory of the year in his adopted home, having triumphed at the Dubai Invitational in January. The seven-time DP World Tour winner has twice finished runner-up at the DP World Tour Championship, including in 2023 to Ryder Cup team-mate Nicolai Højgaard, and is looking to add the finishing touches to a superb 2024 campaign, which included winning the Silver Medal at the Olympic Games in Paris.
“I think whoever you are, I think making it to this tournament is a goal at the start of the year,” Fleetwood explained.
“Ever since 2013, I’ve managed to make it to this point which is something I’m proud of, and yeah, hopefully I can find myself come Sunday with a chance to win.
“I think just being able to get to this point of the year, it’s obviously been a long season for everybody. But if you can be playing well and you can find yourself with a chance in the last event of the season, it’s a great feeling.
“Winning would mean a lot. I think basing ourselves here these days, there’s going to be, well, hopefully, a lot of familiar faces out there watching. I think this tournament is up there with a handful of flagship events of our tour, very important events. I’ve always loved this trophy and always wanted to hold it, and I never quite got there yet.”
The DP World Tour Championship is the second and final event of the inaugural DP World Tour Play-Offs, with the top 50 available players on the Race to Dubai teeing it up this week. As well as competing for the tournament title and the Race to Dubai, which comes down to McIlroy and Lawrence, players will also be fighting for PGA TOUR cards, with the top ten non-exempt players on the final Race to Dubai Rankings earning dual membership.
To find out more about the players challenging for dual membership on the PGA TOUR, please click here.