Race to Dubai winner Fleetwood hails 'biggest day of my career'

Tommy Fleetwood hailed his Race to Dubai triumph as the greatest achievement of his career to date, before setting his sights on even bigger prizes.

Fleetwood was confirmed as the European Tour's number one for the 2017 season on Sunday as Justin Rose fell just short of the finish he needed at the DP World Tour Championship, which was won by Jon Rahm.

Rose held on to his overnight lead for much of the final day, but bogeys at the 12th, 14th and 16th proved damaging and he could only make up one shot on the last to claim a share of fourth when he needed an eagle to deny Fleetwood.

"It's the biggest day of my career for sure," said Fleetwood, who finished 21st in the tournament after a closing 74 but nevertheless retained his position at the top of the Race to Dubai standings.

"The emotions were difficult for me because I don't trust computers, so even when everything had finished, it was so difficult to get up or down. Then I felt for Justin a lot, you know, because I'd seen him when he came in. I think how gracious he was shows a lot about his character.

"I'll always be the 2017 Race to Dubai number one. It's a very big thing to achieve. I'm hoping I can go on and win more of these and we all know how much importance us players put on the majors and WGCs [World Golf Championship events]. I'd love to have a couple of those by the time I'm done too."

The battle between Rose and Fleetwood partially overshadowed another outstanding performance by Rahm, who shot 67 to finish one clear of Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Shane Lowry at 19 under.

For Rahm, a third title of 2017 represented the perfect end to a stunning season that has seen him climb into the world's top five and win the European Tour's Rookie of the Year award.

"I could not be more proud of what I've done this week," said the Spaniard.