An emotional Rory McIlroy shot a 67 to finish second at the DP World Tour Championship, his 10-under 278 good enough to win the Race to Dubai for a record-tying eighth time.
The Northern Irishman entered the final round of play at the Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai at 5-under, tied with Eugenio Chacarra, with the Sunday finish dictating who would win the Harry Vardon Trophy.
Spain’s Chacarra carded a 69 to fall out of contention for the Race to Dubai victory.
Tyrrell Hatton of England fired a 66 to finish at 15-under 273, five shots ahead of McIlroy to win the DP World Tour Championship.
But all eyes were on McIlroy, who equaled Colin Montgomerie with eight wins. At his post-match news conference, he shared just what this trophy meant to him and to his father, who is hospitalized in Cleveland.
Gerry McIlroy recently underwent a double lung transplant.
“He’s been in the hospital for the last two months. Underwent a huge operation at the end of September, and he’s recovering well, thankfully,” McIlroy said, tearing up. “But when I left to come here to the Middle East, I went up to Cleveland to see him before I went. He said to me, ‘Go win The Race to Dubai.’
“This one’s for him.”
But it also is for McIlroy, who sounded a bit overwhelmed by the achievement.
“I don’t really know what to say. I never — winning eight Order of Merits was never really in my list of goals when I was growing up,” he said. “I remember Monty being obviously a stalwart of the European Tour, going to watch him at the World Match Play at Wentworth over the years. I remember playing with him for the first time at The London Club at The European Open in 2008.
“So to pull up alongside him and to win eight of these things, yeah, it means the world to me. I’m a very proud European. I’m a proud European player. I’m proud to be a part of the DP World Tour. Yeah, I’m very proud of myself right now.”
McIlroy had four birdies on the front nine and one on the back. Chacarra’s outing of 69 was less consistent.
He also had four birdies on the front nine, but a bogey on the par-4 10th hole left him a stroke behind McIlroy at the turn. With two birdies and two bogeys in the first five holes in the back nine, the Spaniard could not catch up.
“It was a good fight. I just came out short,” he said. “That’s the beauty of golf. Obviously, when you play with the best in the world — and he’s played here 14, 15 times — you knew it was going to be tough, and he had a better day than I did.”
Chacarra earned his 2027 PGA Tour card with his Race to Dubai finish.
“Super excited,” he said. “But I love the DP World Tour. It’s been so much for me and hopefully I can start good over there and come here as much as possible.”
Hatton will move to the DP World Tour full-time next season after leaving LIV Golf. He will do so on a winning streak and with hopes for 2027 that include a spot on Europe’s Ryder Cup team.
“It feels very surreal. Come close here a couple of times and wondered if I would ever get over the line here,” he said of the Dubai tournament. “I was pretty nervous this morning, and I said to myself that I wouldn’t really look at the leaderboards too much. Thankfully, I got off to a decent start.”
Oliver Lindell of Finland recorded a 65 to move into a tie for third with Chacarra. Five players tied at 7-under for the tournament to earn a share of fifth place.
–Field Level Media
