European Tour Insider: One week to go in Race to Dubai

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Lee Westwood fell to second in the Race to Dubai with one event remaining.

This is it. No, not the Michael Jackson film, but a thriller nonetheless.

The "Earth Song" being sung is over Greg Norman's Earth Course as the European Tour's Race to Dubai actually reaches the Emirates state.

Players finishing in the top 60 on the money list are eligible to play the season-ending event with two pots of gold on offer: one for winning the Dubai World Championship, the other a bonus pool distributed among the top 15 in the race to be Europe's No. 1.

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In fact, only 58 have taken up their allocated place. Paul Casey would have had a chance to finish on top of the pile, but injury rules him out. American Anthony Kim has opted not to play, citing burnout from a demanding 2009 schedule.

The Fantastic Four

Four players can come out on top of the money list. It's added to the intrigue and appeal that the Race to Dubai hasn't been settled even through the lucrative tournaments of recent weeks.

Rory McIlroy is back in the pole position courtesy of his runner-up finish in Hong Kong. Lee Westwood has been relegated to No. 2, but with the money available in Dubai, he can surge to the top again.

Martin Kaymer has an opportunity from third place despite missing more than a month due to a go-kart accident, and Ross Fisher, the winner of the Volvo World Match Play Championship, can leap above all three rivals.

Players tee off at the Dubai World Championship in money-list order, which should add to the buzz with McIlroy and Westwood in the last group just behind Kaymer and Fisher.

Westwood has won the Order of Merit once before, but acknowledges this year has been excitingly different.

European Tour Podcast

Robert Lee and John Hawksworth reflect on two events in the European Tour Race to Dubai, the UBS Hong Kong Open won by Gregory Bourdy and the JBWere Australian Masters won by Tiger Woods. The guys also preview the season-ending Dubai World Championship and offer a golf tip from Spaniard Rafael Cabrera-Bello. Click to listen

"It feels a lot more glitzy, and there's a lot more hype about it," he says "I think it's attracted people who wouldn't have paid attention, maybe from the rest of the world or outside golf."

U.S. absence

There are no Americans in the field, even though several PGA TOUR players, excited by the prospect of competing more overseas, as well as in the Race to Dubai, took up dual membership on the European Tour this year.

Kim was the only one to finish in the top 60. Former Open champion Ben Curtis tried until the last minute, but a back injury thwarted his challenge at the UBS Hong Kong Open last week.

Others didn't last the course, opting not to play the requisite number of events. International and TOUR veterans like Camilo Villegas, Geoff Ogilvy, Adam Scott, Ian Poulter and Robert Allenby are making their presence felt this week.

Still, there may need to be some tweaks to the R2D to make it more appealing next season.

Raising Arizona

Every time you come to this part of the world, you're amazed by the developments and the imagination. The Earth Course is a long way out from the heart of the city, and hence deeper into the desert. It's quite astonishing to see the verdant oasis after negotiating the building sites and emptiness.

Kaymer spends much of the winter practicing in Arizona. He reckons the courses in the United Arab Emirates -- where he's won the Abu Dhabi Championship and come close at other events -- are very similar in nature and set-up to those around Scottsdale.

Gregory glory

With two events on the European Tour last week, it was thought there might be some significant developments in the Race to Dubai, but aside from McIlroy seizing the top spot, there was only one notable change.

Gregory Bourdy had to finish second or better at the UBS Hong Kong Open to reach Dubai and the Frenchman won to claim his third tour title. It meant a hasty rearrangement of flights, and the season for the man from Bordeaux lasts one more week.

Golden moments

Benefitting from a magic moment in Hong Kong was the charity Operation Santa Claus.

Jean-Francois Lucquin was pleased to help out, though the Frenchman could have been forgiven for feeling a little less than charitable.

The former European Masters champion made a hole-in-one at the 12th at the Fanling Course. In previous years, such a feat has earned a one kilogram gold bar. This year, UBS opted instead for a $10,000 donation to the organization.

"Well, OK I didn't get the gold, but any time you can do something for charity, it leaves you feeling pretty good," Lucquin said.

At the same time, Robert-Jan Derksen was just finishing his round and was among the leaders. He was unaware of Lucquin's achievement, but reflected that the course had always been good to him.

The Dutchman had aced the 12th in the past, and his gold bar is still sitting in his bank. "The gold price has gone up," he said, smiling. "It's an investment and I still have it."

Nick Dye is a freelance columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.