With just three events of the Back 9 to go before the end of the regular DP World Tour season, the margins are getting tighter up and down the Race to Dubai Rankings.
There are few places this is better illustrated than in the case of Richard Sterne, who has gone from battling for his playing privileges to the cusp of a place in the DP World Tour Play-Offs.
The South African claimed six DP World Tour titles between 2004 and 2013 but battles with a hip injury in recent years have often limited his appearances and left his chances of featuring in the biggest events in jeopardy.
He made just four cuts in his first 16 events this season and while he played back-to-back weekends at the Nexo Championship and Danish Golf Championship, he entered the Back 9 132nd on the Rankings.
A missed cut at The Belfry did not help his cause but since then he has made the weekend in Switzerland and followed up top 20s in Ireland and France with a tie for third at last week's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship to rise to 66th, with the top 70 at the end of the Genesis Championship advancing to the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship - the first event of the DP World Tour Play-Offs.
The top 50 at the end of the week at Yas Links will then progress to the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.
HotelPlanner Tour graduate Mikael Lindberg is another player enjoying a fruitful Back 9, although he is still on the outside looking in, having gone from 126th to 72nd on the Back 9 with no missed cuts, two top 20s and a tie for fifth last week.
Wenyi Ding may have only moved up three places last week to 63rd but that tie for 21st could be crucial in his efforts to make the top 70.
The rookie - who earned his place on Tour via the Global Amateur Pathway Rankings - has missed just four cuts all season and while at one point he looked a certainty to make the Play-Offs, he still has a little work to do if he is to head to Abu Dhabi.
The DP World Tour Play-Offs bubble
| Position | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 63 | Wenyi Ding | 728.25 |
| 64 | Wu Ashun | 696.65 |
| 65 | Joe Dean | 690.99 |
| 66 | Richard Sterne | 681.91 |
| 67 | Ivan Cantero | 681.53 |
| 68 | Ludvig Åberg | 676.86 |
| 69 | Rafa Canrera Bello | 676.33 |
| 70 | Jason Scrivener | 675.54 |
| ----- | Provisional cut-off for Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship | ----- |
| 71 | Guido Migliozzi | 657.10 |
| 72 | Mikael Lindberg | 643.80 |
For the full Race to Dubai Rankings, click here.
