Thorbjørn Olesen fended off a storming fightback from England's David Horsey to claim a three-stroke victory at the Turkish Airlines Open, winning his fourth European Tour event and a million dollars in prize money.
The Dane’s well deserved victory earned him a valuable 1,065,388 points, lifting him from 38th to ninth in the Race to Dubai rankings with a total of 1,751,589, points for the season and his spot in the DP World Tour Championship, taing place at Jumeirah Golf Estates from Thursday 17 to Sunday 20 November, secured.
The 26 year old managed to hold his ground and take the € 1,065,388 first prize with a 20-under total 264 despite his seven-shot overnight advantage being slashed to just one stroke in the final round.
Horsey and Haotong Li of China shared the runners-up place as both of them closed with a 65 to finish on 17 under 267, while Austria's Bernd Wiesberger was two strokes further back in fourth place.
Horsey reached the turn in 29 with birdies on four of his first seven holes and holed a 30-footer at the ninth, as Olesen cancelled out his gain at the fifth with a three-putt bogey at the ninth.
Olesen's two-stroke lead was temporarily halved before heading into the back nine when Horsey posted a birdie at the 12th.
Olesen restored his lead by getting up-and-down from the greenside bunker at the same hole and then extended his lead with birdies at the 14th and 15th.
With four successive birdies from the 13th Li climbed up the leaderboard to eventually share second spot with Horsey after the Englishman bogeyed the 16th.
Olesen posted his first bogey at the same hole to see his lead cut to three, but completed his final two holes in regulation to wrap up the tournament.
Li and Horsey's second place finish gained them 557,0778 each in the Race to Dubai with both players making great jumps. The Asian surged from 41st to 19th and upped his season-tally to 1,224,425 points while Horsey catapulted from 53rd to 28th.
Wiesberger claimed 319,726 points after finishing fourth which helped him climb one spot into 11th as he edged closer to the Race to Dubai's top 10 with one event to go before the players face off in the prestigious season-ending climax to the 2016 European Tour. His total points are now 1,745,195.
It was also a valuable result for South African George Coetzee who sealed his place in the DP World Tour Championship after finishing fifth and gaining 271,416 points, which took him from 85th to 51st in the Race to Dubai.
USA's David Lipsky and Joakim Lagergren of Sweden both shared sixth place and sealed 208,721 points. Lipsky moved from 59th to 44th while Lagergren rose from 51st to 40th.
Spain's Pablo Larrazabal finished eighth to claim 162,192 points rising into the Race to Dubai top 50 from 58th with a season-total of 649,338 points. Larrazabal’s compatriot Nacho Elvira amassed 145,205 points for finishing in ninth place climbing from 50th to 43rd in the rankings.
Meanwhile England's Danny Willett failed to reclaim his top spot in the Race to Dubai rankings after carding a final round four-over 75 to end the week tied-68th. His Ryder Cup teammate Lee Westwood also missed out on the chance to close the gap on the front-runners after finishing two-under.
