Martin Kaymer joins European golf greats

Dubai: Martin Kaymer joined the greats of European golf by winning the 2010 money-list crown on the final day of the season at the Dubai World Championship.

The German, still out on the course, was guaranteed to land the prize of USD 1.5 million for topping the Race to Dubai when his only rival for the title, Briton Graeme McDowell, finished down the field at the Greg Norman-designed Earth course in the Gulf. McDowell needed a top-three result to overhaul the German at the summit of the money list but could manage only a closing 68 for a six-under-par tally of 282. Kaymer follows in the footsteps of heavyweights such as Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Ernie Els and Colin Montgomerie by ending the season as European number one.Second-placed McDowell has played a tough five weeks in a row in Spain, China, Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai in a bid to catch Kaymer at the top and he was proud to have taken the Race to Dubai to the wire. "To give Martin a run for his money this week was very good," the Northern Irishman told reporters. "I am proud of the way I played the last five weeks.” "Things didn`t really go my way this week. It`s a golf course which frustrated me last year and continues to frustrate me.”"I couldn`t see the lines (on the greens) and hole the putts. You`re not going to do any damage out there without putting well." Bureau Report