Rory McIlroy completed the 2024 season in type by including his third DP World Tour Championship win after successful the sixth Race to Dubai title of his profession.
The Northern Irishman was within the midst of a two-way tussle with Rasmus Højgaard for the season-ending occasion when his Race to Dubai crown was confirmed, with each gamers locked on 13 underneath with 5 holes remaining.
McIlroy valiantly saved par on the fifteenth gap earlier than hitting his strategy inside a foot on the subsequent to card his first birdie in 11 holes and nudge forward of his rival. Højgaard holed a clutch par putt on the seventeenth to stay one behind however when he failed to search out the cup with a birdie effort on the final, McIlroy had two makes an attempt for victory.
He solely wanted one putt to seal the two-shot success at Jumeirah Golf Estates and full the end-of-season double. McIlroy was happy to “recover from the road” after successful The DP World Tour Championship, telling Sky Sports activities: “It means quite a bit. I’ve been by way of quite a bit this 12 months professionally and personally. It seems like a becoming finish to 2024. I’ve persevered this 12 months quite a bit, had shut calls, wasn’t in a position to get it completed. So to have the ability to recover from the road. I held on and bought the job completed.”
McIlroy solely wanted a top-11 end on Sunday to achieve the summit of the season rankings, with South African Thriston Lawrence – who completed in Dubai in midfield – the one participant in a position to deny him the Race to Dubai title.
Nevertheless, Lawrence’s problem by no means materialised and when he got here dwelling in a single underneath par for the occasion, McIlroy secured his third successive crown with 5 holes left in his closing spherical.
The world No 3 joins Spanish nice Seve Ballesteros in second place within the all-time record with six order of benefit triumphs, with solely Colin Montgomerie forward of the pair with eight victories.
After securing his sixth Race to Dubai title, McIlroy stated he was proud to be talked about alongside Ballesteros, including: “It’s actually cool. I believe everybody is aware of what Seve means to European golf, to Ryder Cup gamers. He means a lot to European golf and for me to be talked about in the identical breath I’m very proud.”
McIlroy admitted he was relishing the problem of trying to emulate Montgomerie’s Race to Dubai titles haul. He stated: “I’m up for it. I’ve simply gained my third in a row. I’ve made it my precedence to offer myself one of the best likelihood coming in to the top of the 12 months to win the Race to Dubai and I don’t see that being any completely different for the foreseeable future. I’ll go for my seventh subsequent 12 months and attempt to chase Monty down.”
