Will Chacarra Hold the Lead? Reed and McIlroy Chasing

Eugenio Chacarra enters the final stretch before the play-offs as the leader of the DP World Tour Race to Dubai rankings. The Spanish golfer is ahead of Patrick Reed and Rory McIlroy. Chacarra said, "I am playing the best golf of my career," expressing his goal of keeping the lead.

Chacarra won the KLM Open and the Open de Italia in June this season. Last month, he also took his third title at the DP World India Championship. He has also finished in the top three four more times, including a second-place finish at the Open de Espana. Leader Chacarra is 669.27 points ahead of Reed and 999.03 points ahead of McIlroy.

The winner in Abu Dhabi will earn 1,500 Race to Dubai points, and the champion of the Dubai event one week later will earn 2,000. For Reed to overtake Chacarra, he needs to finish at least second in Abu Dhabi. Points are awarded according to the position players finish in.

McIlroy is competing for his eighth Race to Dubai title, which would equal the record. It would be his fourth time winning in four years. However, the Masters champion McIlroy needs a strong finish to end the season first and reach Colin Montgomerie's Order of Merit record.

The Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship begins on Thursday and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Golf. The season finale will be the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai next week.