After a storming finish in Abu Dhabui last weekend, where McIlroy carded a 62 for his lowest ever round on the DP Tour, he now holds a 767.02 point lead at the top of the Race to Dubai rankings.
After tournaments in 27 countries across five continents, the DP World Tour reaches a climax this week in Dubai and Rory McIlroy is the man to beat once again. Since 2009, the DP World Tour Championship has annually played host to the season-ending event, and Masters champions McIlroy has claimed the Harry Vardon Trophy for the Tour’s No.1 player six times – winning the last three in a row.
The tournament in Dubai takes place at the Jumeirah Golf Estates’ Earth Course, and it’s obviously a happy hunting ground for the Holywood man. After a storming finish in Abu Dhabui last weekend, where McIlroy carded a 62 for his lowest ever round on the DP Tour, he now holds a 767.02 point lead at the top of the Race to Dubai rankings.
The Northern Irishman has won twice this season on this Tour, memorably at the Masters Tournament to complete the career grand slam before coming through another play-off to win the Amgen Irish Open. Last year, he won the DP World Tour Championship to finish his season in style and he is again a man in control of his own destiny.
The winner of the tournament this week wins $3 million straight out. The runner up gets $1.27 million. The total prize fund is $12 million – some £7.6 million. At the end, the top 10 players in the Race to Dubai Rankings will share a £4.6m ($6m) bonus pool, with the overall winner receiving £1.5m ($2m).
After finishing in a tie for third last week in Abu Dhabi, he increased his lead over closest challenger Marco Penge – the only three-time winner on Tour this season – to 767.02 points. However, with 2,000 points on offer for the winner, and as few as 57.600 points for the player who finishes bottom, both Marco Penge and third-placed fellow Englishman Tyrrell Hatton could still claim the Harry Vardon Trophy theoretically.
Even a win for Penge at the Earth Course won’t be enough to deny McIlroy, if the Holywood man finishes second on his own. A tie for second or worse, coupled with a Penge triumph, would demote McIlroy from the summit.
McIlroy is guaranteed at least 57.6 points this weekend – the total for a last place finish in the no cut event – which effectively takes his advantage to 819.62 points.
That means Penge knows he needs at least a three-way tie for second to have any chance of knocking McIlroy off his perch.
In theory, one other player can take the title this weekend – Ryder Cup star Hatton. The LIV Golf ace is third in the rankings on 2919.18 points, a whopping 1,720.88 points behind McIlroy.
It’s a simple equation for Hatton – only a win will do. That would earn him 2,000 points but even in that case, if McIlroy finishes in a three-way tie for 10th or better, the Masters champion cannot be caught .
If Hatton wins and McIlroy does finish lower than a three-way tie for 10th, the title the title would still go to Penge if he finishes solo second.
Kristoffer Reitan is fourth in the rankings, and a win would take him to 4,655.65 points, 15.59 points more than McIlroy currently has. However, with no cut this week in the 50 man field and and 57.6 points on offer for finishing dead last, he cannot catch McIlroy.
Race To Dubai Standings (before final event)
Rory McIlroy – 4,640.06 pointsMarco Penge – 3,873.04 pointsTyrrell Hatton – 2,919.18 points
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