Rory McIlroy misplaced the week-long $10 million DP World Tour Championship on Sunday in a playoff towards Matt Fitzpatrick, however did sufficient to make sure he was topped the winner of the season-long Race to Dubai champion.
“It’s completely unbelievable. I knew I nonetheless had a bit of labor to do to recover from the road within the Race to Dubai,” mentioned McIlroy,who will stay the world No. 2.
McIlroy topped the European tour’s season-ending rankings for a seventh time, and for the fourth season in a row.
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In doing so, he broke a tie with Severiano Ballesteros within the all-time European order of advantage charts and is one behind Colin Montgomerie, who achieved the feat eight occasions.
“It appears inside touching distance now,” mentioned McIlroy.
“I used to be the primary European to win the Grand Slam and I’d like to be probably the most profitable European when it comes to profitable Order of Deserves and season-long races.”
When talking after the occasion, McIlroy was cleary emotional and held again tears, admitting Ballesteros “was all the time my dad’s favorite participant”.
“Once I hear Seve, it simply kind of brings me again by my entire journey within the recreation, and yeah, it’s fairly emotional,” he mentioned.
Talking on Sky Sports activities, McIlroy additionally admitted he had an emotional dialog with Ballesteros’ household.
“I had a chat with Seve’s spouse, Carmen, earlier than I went out to play right this moment, and he or she advised me how proud he would have been,” McIlroy mentioned.
“Seve means a lot to this Tour and to the European Ryder Cup group. We rally a lot round his spirit and every thing he meant.
“He was my dad’s favorite participant and every time I hear his title I choke up. So to equal him final yr was nice however to surpass him this time … nicely, I didn’t get this far in my goals. It’s very, very very cool.”
Englishman Fitzpatrick made a birdie on the 72nd gap of regulation play to complete with a 66 on the Earth course of Jumeirah Golf Estates.
A couple of minutes later, Northern Eire’s McIlroy sensationally eagled the identical gap after a superb second shot to 16 toes.
On the primary playoff gap, McIlroy’s drive discovered the stream that crosses the golf green, and will solely make a bogey, leaving Fitzpatrick a third-time winner of the season-ending event.
Fitzpatrick, the 2022 US Open champion, saved his nerve for his third DP World Tour Championship title and a tenth DP World Tour victory in 195 begins.
Till he completed tied eighth within the PGA Championship in Could, he didn’t have a top-10 for practically 11 months.
Fitzpatrick wins DP World Tour Champ | 01:45
England’s Tommy Fleetwood (67) and Laurie Canter (67), Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg (66) and Denmark’s Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (68) – tied for third at 17-under par complete.
McIlroy, the reigning Masters champion gave the impression to be motoring alongside when he made 5 birdies in his first 11 holes to maneuver forward by two photographs.
A bogey on the twelfth gap, the place he overshot the inexperienced along with his strategy shot, and one other dropped shot on the par-4 sixteenth, the place he discovered a bunker, pulled him again.
After McIlroy’s lengthy birdie putt lipped out on the seventeenth, he was one behind a gaggle of 4 gamers.
That grew to become a two-shot deficit when Fitzpatrick made the sixth birdie of his bogey-free spherical on the 18th.
McIlroy responded with a towering second shot from 234 yards into head wind to 16 toes for his eagle to drive the playoff.
England’s Marco Penge completed in a tie for twenty second to safe second place within the Race to Dubai.
He led 10 non-exempt gamers who will get their PGA Tour card for 2026.
That record consists of Canter, Kristoffer Reitan, Adrien Saddier, Alex Noren, John Parry, Haotong Li, Keita Nakajima, Neergaard-Petersen and Jordan Smith.