Shane Lowry is up to a career high of No 17 in the world rankings after his eighth-placed finish in the Turkish Airlines Open at the weekend.
More importantly in the short term he is up to No 3 in the Race to Dubai European Rankings, with just three events to go in the final series, the next of which is the $8.5m HSBC World Golf Champions event in Shanghai, which begins this Thursday.
Lowry trails world No 3 Rory McIlroy by €617,000 in the Race to Dubai, with a massive €25m in prize money to play for over the next three weeks.
Lowry shot a bogey-free fourth round which featured four birdies and an eagle to finish one shot behind McIlroy in Turkey at the weekend.
The Offaly man has had three top-10 finishes this year and trumped three Major champions - Bubba Watson, Justin Rose and Jim Furyk - in brilliantly winning the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational back in August.
McIlroy, who has suffered an injury-disrupted season, has stated his strong desire to win the Race to Dubai, admitting:
"It would mean an awful lot to win the Race to Dubai. I had a great chance back in 2009 to win and didn't quite; Lee (Westwood) pipped me there.
"I had a great season in 2012 and was able to win with probably one of the best finishes I've had in a golf tournament, finishing with five birdies in Dubai to win the tournament and win the overall thing."
