… Belek, Turkey
For Race to Dubai front-runner Bernd Wiesberger it could be likened to a World Havyweight title fight.
There is just 12 rounds of competition remaining in 2019 before the Austrian hopefully delivers the knock out blow to be crowned European No. 1.
Current Race to Dubai leading Bernd Wiesberger intends tackling the remaining 12 rounds of 2019 one round at a time. (Photo @tourmiss)
Wiesberger, 34 tees-up in the first four rounds in that goal at this week’s Turkish Airlines Open here at the Montgomerie Maxx course in the Turkish golfing capital of Belek.
The triple Tour winner this season leads Spaniard Jon Rahm by 352 points and with Ireland’s Shane Lowry by a further 651 points.
Strangely, Rahm has chosen not to compete this week nor is the double Irish Open and Madrid Open winner, teeing-up in next week’s penultimate Nedbank Challenge.
While Wiesberger will tee-up alongside Lowry for two rounds in Turkey, he will have a virtual ‘free rein’ at Sun City as Lowry has chosen not to ‘chase’ the No. 1 title and put all his Race to Dubai challenge eggs into this week and the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.
And as we come down to the final three events of the 2019 season, and the commencement to the Final Series, Wiesberger spoke of his goal in becoming also the first Austrian to be European No. 1.
“I’m in a good position going into the last 12 rounds and looking forward to what lies ahead, so really excited as I’ve never been in this position before,” he said ahead of teeing-up in the Turkish Airlines Open Pro-Am.
“I’ve had a couple of top-10 finishes for the year but never been quite in that position to go into the last three, but just going round-by-round hopefully.
“I am looking at it as 12 individual rounds, really, and break it down to that and see every one of them as giving 100 per cent out there, and we count it up, a couple more points to get out there, and you know, Sunday in Dubai we count them all up.
“To win the Race to Dubai, and oming off a year like last year where I’ve not played too much golf and bounced back from injury, it would be for not only me but everybody helping me out getting back, it would be quite nice and a lot of people to be included in getting that done.
“So, three more great events. I really enjoy each of those occasions. Very different from the next, so yeah, all we can do is just go round by round and shot by shot and do the best.”
A more immediate reward for Wiesberger is the opportunity to play more on the PGA Tour in 2020 and with confirmation he will contest next March the back-to-back Players Championship and the Valspar Championship and each in in Florida.
It will a three-week spell Stateside for Wiesberger as he will tee-up the week following the Valspar in the March 26th commencing WGC – Dell Match-Play Championship in Austin, Texas.
