Tommy Fleetwood plans to close in style

Fleetwood, the winner in 2017, had to settle for third place this time behind Ryder Cup partner Francesco Molinari and Patrick Reed after finishing tied for 16th at the DP World Tour Championship last weekend.

The 27-year-old headed straight to Asia for this week’s Hong Kong Open and is eager to build on another successful campaign.

He said: “It’s been a brilliant year. You have to remember how well you’ve done, and the two guys that finished above of me in the Race to Dubai were two Major champions.

“But the good thing to look forward to is I feel like there’s a lot of improvement out there, so that’s still the exciting part.

“I think over the course of four days my game just needs to stay a little bit more consistent.

“I said it a couple times last week, I’ve always fallen one round short. Winning is what we all want to do, so to do that I need to put four rounds together.”

Fleetwood has finished in the top six on both his previous appearances at Hong Kong Golf Club and feels the course suits him.

He said: “It is quite a big patience game because you feel like there’s a lot of chances, but the course actually doesn’t give you that much in the end. Especially if the wind is swirling, it makes it very difficult.

“But, in general, ball-striking is pretty key. You can’t really play this golf course from off the fairways.

“You have to be on the fairway to score, and that’s obviously one of my strengths, so hopefully I can keep that up for just one more week.”

Spain’s Rafa Cabrera Bello has missed out by one shot in both of the last two years and is hoping to make it third time lucky.

It has been a profitable event for Spaniards, with Jose Maria Olazabal, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Jose Manuel Lara winning six titles between them.

Cabrera Bello said: “I know it’s very close to be up there again.

“Hopefully, I can draw from nice memories and good experiences here in the past and let’s see if I give myself a chance again this year. It’s a place that’s treated Spanish golfers very nicely.”

Vijay Singh and the US PGA Tour have settled a legal dispute dating back to his suspension five years ago.

The Tour suspended Singh in 2013 after the Fijian admitted in Sports Illustrated magazine that he had taken deer antler spray, which contains a substance (IGF-1) that is banned under the PGA Tour Anti-Doping Policy.

Singh’s ban was later rescinded, but the 55-year-old filed a lawsuit against the Tour, claiming his reputation had been damaged after being wrongfully suspended and the matter had been expected to go to trial.

In a joint statement they said: “We are pleased to announce that we have resolved our prior dispute. The settlement reflects our mutual commitment to look to the future as we put this matter behind us.”