Rory McIlroy took home his seventh Race to Dubai title on the DP World Tour despite a narrow defeat over Matt Fitzpatrick at the DP World Tour Championship.
In what was a dramatic conclusion at Jumeirah Golf Estates, a whole host of players were in contention to win the event with McIlroy heading into the final round joint-top alongside Denmark’s Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen and a group of players, including Fitzpatrick, tied for second. But it was the Northern Irishman who put himself in pole position to win the event after finding himself with a two-shot advantage at the midway stage of the round thanks to four birdies on the front nine. However, dropped shots at the 12th and 16th meant his lead was lost.
Meanwhile, Fitzpatrick was putting in a solid display with three birdies in the first five holes and then a run of eight consecutive pars meant he remained in the hunt. He went on to finish his round in style with three birdies in his last five holes to card a bogey-free 66 and set a clubhouse target of 18 under. With the rest of the chasing pack faltering, McIlroy produced the spectacular, putting a sensational 15-foot eagle at the last to force a play-off with his Ryder Cup teammate.
The pair returned to the 18th for the play-off which saw McIlroy get off to the worst possible start finding water with his tee shot, giving the advantage to Fitzpatrick. It didn’t get any better for McIlroy as after taking the penalty, his third shot found the bunker. Fitzpatrick, who took the more conservative route in the play-off, got up and down to safely to secure the DP World Tour Championship title for the third time.
He [McIlroy] is one of only a few where you know you are going to a play-off,” Fitzpatrick said. “You are two clear with one to play and you know you are going to a play-off because he did it again in typical Rory fashion.
“I struggled at the start of the year obviously and to turn it round in the summer like I did, have the Ryder Cup like I did which is hard to top but the way I played today – there was one bad shot all day. So proud of myself.”
The second place finish, however, was enough McIlroy to earn his fourth consecutive Race to Dubai triumph, topping the rankings on 5,975 points, over 1,950 points above England’s Marco Penge in second.
Penge and fellow countryman Tyrrell Hatton were the only two players who entered the event with the chance of toppling the World No. 2 but the pair finished T14 and T22 respectively.
Immediately afterwards, an emotional McIlroy reflected on his achievements as he surpassed the late Seve Ballesteros’ feat of six Race to Dubai wins and vowed to catch Colin Montgomerie’s all-time record of eight.
“I had a conversation with Carmen [Ballesteros’ former wife] before I went out to play and she told me how proud he would have been,” said an emotional McIlroy on Sky Sports, his voice choking up as he held back the tears.
“He means so much to this Tour and the European Ryder Cup team. We rally so much around his spirit, his quotes and everything he meant for European golf.
“To surpass him this year, I did not get this far in my dream.”
When asked about Montgomerie’s record, he added: “I want it. Of course I do.
“I was the first European to win the Grand Slam and I would love to be the European with the most wins in terms of the season-long races.”
The tightly-contested event concluded with a four-way tie for third which included Neergaard-Petersen, English duo Tommy Fleetwood and Laurie Canter and Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg all on 17 under.
What is the next event?
The new DP World Tour season tees off with the BMW Australian PGA Championship taking place between 27-30 November at Royal Melbourne GC.