Francesco Molinari has completed the season of his life after being crowned Europe's Number One at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.

The Italian won his maiden Major Championship in July at The Open, adding to his first Rolex Series victory at the BMW PGA Championship.

Those triumphs coupled with incredibly consistent performances throughout the year meant that only a victory for defending champion Tommy Fleetwood at Jumeirah Golf Estates could possibly deny Molinari the Race to Dubai title.

A closing 68 was not enough to move the Englishman to the summit on the Earth Course and Molinari is now the first Italian to be crowned the European Tour's top player.

The 36 year old also made Ryder Cup history in Europe's famous victory at Le Golf National in October, becoming the first European to win five points out of five.