Malaysia’s Gavin Green produced a scintillating final nine of five-under-par 31 to salvage a T57 finish in the DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai.
After an outward 39 which included a double bogey at the par-five 2nd hole, Gavin caught fire on the inward stretch with five birdies against no dropped shots. The 26-year-old closed his 2020 European Tour campaign with an extremely satisfying birdie at the demanding par-five 18th of the Greg Norman-designed Earth Course, a hole that he had struggled on the previous three rounds.
“I killed the drive and hit a six-iron second shot to about 35 feet and nearly holed the putt for eagle. That felt very nice indeed,” said Gavin.
The notorious 18th hole is regarded as one of the toughest finishes in golf, playing 620 yards uphill with a meandering creek coming into play from tee to green.
Gavin finished the US$8 million season-ender with a total of four-over-par 292 and is projected to end the year in a career-best 52nd place on the European Tour’s Race to Dubai rankings. His previous Race To Dubai final rankings were 85th in 2018 and 69th in 2019.
“It’s been a really weird year because of the break due to the pandemic, which killed the momentum I had early in the year … but at the same time, I saw plenty of progress working towards my goals,” shared Gavin, who struggled with a niggling wrist injury late in the season which forced him to make some swing adjustments.
“I’m still working on the swing with my coach Chris (O’Connell). It’s getting better putting it into tournament play, but obviously bad habits tend to creep in, which is just part of it,” added the 2017 Asian Tour No 1, who heads back to Malaysia on Tuesday for a well-deserved break.
“I’m ready for a couple of weeks off and rest … can’t wait to get back home! Food, friends and family!”
