The Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy won this Sunday the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai (United Arab Emirates), which earned him, even more easily, the sixth title of best player of the year on the European circuit – the former Order of Merit -, equaling the brand of the Spanish Severiano Ballesteros.
McIlroy, 35 years old and number three in the world, added to his already successful record with an award, the Race to Dubai, which he already won in 2012, 2014, 2015, 2022 and 2023, and which means pocketing a check for five million dollars (4.7 million euros) for winning the last tournament of the season and also the European crown.
Only Scot Colin Montgomerie has so far achieved more titles from the old European Tour Order of Merit, with eight titles.
The Northern Irishman faced the last day of the grand final at the Emirati course of Jumeirah Golf Estates sharing the lead with the Frenchman Antoine Rozner and the Dane Rasmus Hojgaard, who settled for second place after fighting for victory until the last hole, which It came just one stroke apart.
With six birdies and three bogeys in the fourth round, McIlroy finished with 273 strokes (-15), two ahead of Hojgaard, 58th in the world and who finished second in the Race to Dubai.
It’s a wonder. Everyone knows what it means for European golf and for Ryder Cup players
Rory McIlroy on what it means to match Seve Ballesteros
Rozner, on the other hand, couldn’t keep up the pace and finished third with 277 strokes (-11), the same card as the Irishman Shane Lowry and the Australian Adam Scott.
To achieve his sixth Harry Vardon Trophy, the third in a row, McIlroy only needed to finish in the top ten due to the large points difference compared to the second place in the Race to Dubai, the South African Thriston Lawrence, who was far from the first places since the initial day.
Through tears, the best player on the European circuit considered equaling the six titles of a legend like Ballesteros: “It’s wonderful. Everyone knows what it means for European golf and for the Ryder Cup players.”
“The only thing we have in the Ryder locker room are words and images of Seve. He has meant so much to the European tour,” the British player added to DP World Tour TV.
Go for Montgomerie
Regarding his chances of reaching Montgomerie’s mark, he stated: “I’m going for it. It’s my third consecutive title and I’ve made it a priority on my calendar in recent years. I’ll go for the seventh and try to win the eighth.”
The Northern Irishman’s new milestone rounds off a record of four grand slams, including the United States Open in 2011 at just 22 years old, when he became the youngest to achieve it in almost a century, with a score record of 22 under par.
The following year, he won the PGA Championship and once again broke the record of being the youngest to achieve two majors, unseating the American Tiger Woods.
The season that is now ending, in which he has participated in 27 tournaments, has not been the most prolific in partial victories for McIlroy, having achieved only four tournaments between the European and American circuits, but without adding his fifth ‘majors’, that has resisted him for ten years.
The best classified Spaniard was Adrián Otaegui with 281 strokes (-7) in thirteenth position while Jorge Campillo finished nineteenth with a balance of 284 strokes.
