Tommy Fleetwood, Sergio Garcia and Jon Rahm all picked up their first wins of 2018 with Europeans triumphing on three different tours last week.

Reigning Race to Dubai champion Fleetwood made another spectacular start to the season by winning the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship presented by EGA for a second successive year.

A back-nine birdie blitz on Sunday saw the 27 year old become just the second player after Martin Kaymer to defend the Abu Dhabi crown and, after holding off challenges from the likes of Rory McIlroy and World Number One Dustin Johnson Fleetwood, has risen up both the European and World Points lists.

Also continuing his ascent up the ranks of world golf last week was Rahm. After holding his nerve to triumph in a four-hole play-off at the PGA Tour’s CareerBuilder Challenge, the Spaniard has moved up to a career-high second place in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Completing the trio of European silverware was Garcia, who cruised to a comprehensive five-shot victory in the Asian Tour’s Singapore Open.

The points race, which began at the REAL D+D Czech Masters last year, will heat up further once May comes around, when points earned will be multiplied by 1.5 at Rolex Series events.

This change to the points system will come into effect at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, the first Rolex Series event of the season. With plenty to look forward to, the build-up to The 2018 Ryder Cup promises to be one of the most fascinating yet.