By Kent Gray
The hunted has become the hunter at the Race to Dubai decider and admits it will be a “massively tall order” to repeat as European No.1.

But Tommy Fleetwood is just happy to be the only other man left in the season-long fight alongside pole-sitter Francesco Molinari, his unbeaten Ryder Cup sidekick who is perhaps now better known as the front man of “Moliwood” after the duo famously went four from four together at Le Golf National .

Last year Fleetwood entered the final week of the season as the hare, Justin Rose emerging as the only serious challenger to the coveted Harry Vardon trophy. By his own admission Fleetwood “stumbled across the line” on Earth as he book-ended 65s with rounds of 73 and 74 on Thursday and Sunday respectively to finish 21st and hold off Rose, tied fourth, by one shot for the crown.

Related: Moliwood headline Thursday pairings at DP World Tour Championship

The equation this week, unlike last year, is far more simple. Fleetwood must win the 10th DP World Tour Championship and hope his best pal on tour finishes outside the top five at Jumeirah Golf Estates. Otherwise the Italian will add European No.1 to a year that already includes a breakthrough major championship win at Carnoustie, the European Tour’s flagship BMW PGA Championship and a first PGA Tour win.

“The math is pretty clear. It’s in Frank’s hands, but it’s another week, another start, where I’m hopefully going to be up there on Sunday,” Fleetwood said.

“Yeah, it’s tough. It was a lot closer last year and I was nervous on Thursday. Sort of never experienced anything like that playing for a year-long event.

“Justin, at the same time, on the form of his life and he’s one of the best golfers of our generation and it showed how hard it is to get over that line. I mean, a tournament’s hard enough when it’s four days, but The Race to Dubai, when it’s a year long and now all of a sudden you have nine holes to play and that’s what the year comes down to, it’s a very, very different feeling and very difficult.

“Hopefully, come the back nine on Sunday this year, I have a chance and I have a great week and I’m playing well, and I can give Frank something to think about. I am kind of chasing and it’s a nice kind of — it’s a lot of freedom in that.”

Fleetwood would have loved to have won more than his Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship repeat to kick-start 2018. But he’s thrilled with his consistency – eight top 10s in 18 starts including four in succession leading into this week to keep the heat on Molinari – to have gained his PGA Tour card, an unforgettable Ryder Cup debut and improved his world ranking to 10. He also came within a shot of tying eventual champion Brooks Koepka at the U.S. Open after a closing 63 at Shinnecock Hills.

So how do you rate the consistency of 2018 compared to your breakout wins in Abu Dhabi and France last year?

“Consistency is great, but it’s difficult to see what’s better: Is it better winning three times or is it better finishing top 10 throughout the year? I’m sure I’ll probably pick winning trophies, and I wish I would have won more than I did, but majors have been a lot more consistent.

“I think apart from the PGA, either on Saturday or Sunday, I was within the last two or three groups within the majors. So I’ve been in contention a lot more and I’ve learnt a lot more about myself, and I’ve played a lot of different courses and I’ve played in the best fields pretty much every week.”

The challenge for Fleetwood is to convert more of the near run tournaments as he’s juggled playing in Europe and on the PGA Tour for the first time.

“There’s been a lot of times this year where I’ve been one round of golf away from winning, and I’ve just too many times, I have a round that should be level par; I’ve shot 4- or 5-over and that’s cost me.

“So on a whole, I’ve played much better golf this year, for sure, and I’ve been way, way more consistent, but I’ve always just fallen short for one round or a stretch of holes.

“Going forward, next year, which we’ve already started looking at, that is definitely a part of my game I need to improve if I want to win more.

“So many things have improved this year. I have a PGA TOUR card for the first time; got to the final event this year. I’ve still got a chance of winning The Race to Dubai, doing better in majors and World Ranking has gone up. I’ve kind of kicked on like I’ve wanted to, but there’s still sort of a lot more that I can do better.”

The game plan for Earth now you’re the hunter?

“I think, yeah, I’ll try and be as aggressive as I can, but in a way that, you know, I’m not going to play really stupid and then let myself in for 15 bogeys but 25 birdies. That’s not going to get it done.

“I’ll play to win and see where that ends up. There’s a bigger element of freedom because that’s just the way it is.  Unless I had a three-shot lead going into the back nine on Sunday, I can’t really lose anything. I either win or I don’t, and that’s pretty black and white this week.”