Sunday 15 October 2017 19:39, UK
Tommy Fleetwood was proud of the way he battled back from a poor start to the Italian Open as he extended his lead at the top of the Race to Dubai standings to over a million points.
With extra points on offer at Monza in the fifth of the eight Rolex Series events this season, Fleetwood faced a tough task just to make the cut after opening with a disappointing 71 in the company of Sergio Garcia and Jon Rahm - his two main threats in the race to be European No 1.
But the Englishman fought back with rounds of 66 and 63, and a flawless final-round 67 earned him a tie for sixth place on 17 under par - two clear of Rahm and five strokes ahead of Garcia.
Fleetwood now has a commanding lead with just five events remaining this season, although the Spanish duo will have high hopes of reducing the deficit on home soil at next week's Andalucia Valderrama Masters, in which Garcia is tournament host.
"I played well enough to win for three days, but that first day I didn't play well enough to make the cut," said Fleetwood, who is taking next week off. "Golf is a four-day tournament and I still felt like I could have a chance, even with a level par, and it shows I could have. A couple more putts, a couple more chances taken, and you never know.
"But the last three rounds were really good, solid golf. I only made one bogey in three rounds. I've got a week off next week but it's been nice these two weeks after having so much time off, and to come back and play good golf has been nice."
Fleetwood is looking forward to the challenge of trying to hold off Garcia and Rahm to be crowned European No 1 for the first time, no matter how his rivals perform in Spain next week.
"It's a strange scenario where you've got to stay away from looking at what Sergio is doing or what Jon is doing or whoever wins this tournament, maybe they get close," he said.
"You have to just keep your eye on what you're doing. I think it's challenging mentally to make sure that you keep going, there's no doubt about it. It's a massive dream of mine to win the Race to Dubai and it always will be, whether it happens this year or not.
"So there's some mental challenges in just trying to stick to your game and keep trying to improve every week, concentrating week-in, week-out. It's a nice challenge, and it's the complete opposite end of the spectrum from trying to save your card, which I've done, as well. But I think it's great and it's a great position to be in. I'm very grateful for it."
Tyrrell Hatton followed up last week's successful defence of his Alfred Dunhill Links Championship title with a thrilling victory in Italy which lifted him to fifth in the Race to Dubai, although he still trails Fleetwood by over a million and a half points.
