The Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy won this Sunday the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai (United Arab Emirates), earning him, more easily, the sixth title of the best player of the year on the European circuit, equaling the mark of the Spanish Severiano Ballesteros.
McIlroy, 35 years old and number three in the world, added to his successful record with the award, the Race to Dubai, which he has already won in 2012, 2014, 2015, 2022 and 2023, and means pocketing a check for five. million dollars (4.7 million euros) for winning the final 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 leading with Frenchman Antoine Rozner and Dane Rasmus Hojgaard, who settled for second place after fighting for victory until the last hole, which it came . only 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 second in the Race to Dubai.
Rozner, on the other hand, couldn’t keep up and finished third on 277 strokes (-11), the same card as Irishman Shane Lowry and Australian Adam Scott.
To clinch his sixth Harry Vardon Trophy, his third in a row, McIlroy only needs to finish in the top ten by a large points margin over Race to Dubai second-place finisher, South African Thriston Lawrence , which is far from the first place since day one.
In tears, the best player on the European circuit was thought to be equal to the six titles of a legend like Ballesteros: “Very nice. “Everyone knows what this means for European golf and for Ryder Cup players.”
“The only thing we have in Ryder’s locker room is Seve’s words and pictures. “It’s very important on the European circuit,” the British player added to DP World Tour TV.
Regarding his chances of reaching the Montgomerie mark, he said: “I’ll do it. It’s my third title in a row and I’ve made it a priority on my calendar over the years. I’ll go seventh and try to win eighth. “
The Northern Irishman’s new milestone capped a record four grand slams, including the United States Open in 2011 aged just 22, when he became the youngest to achieve it in almost a century, with a record score of 22 under par
The following year, he won the PGA Championship and again broke the record of being the youngest to win two majors, dethroning American Tiger Woods.
The season that is now ending, in which he participated in 27 tournaments, has not been the most fruitful of partial victories for McIlroy, who has won only four tournaments between the European and American circuits, but without adding to his fifth ‘majors’, that was against him in ten years.
Chilean Joaquín Niemann, 26 years old and who played on the LIV circuit this season, finished six shots behind the leader.
The best classified Spaniard is Jorge Campillo, with a balance of 284 strokes (-4), who, like Ángel Hidalgo, did not get one of the ten cards to participate in the American PGA circuit next season that gave the final Race classification. to Dubai.
Source: La Verdad
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