McIlroy Clinches Third Straight DP World Tour Title

Rory McIlroy historically bookended his 2024 season, winning the DP World Tour Championship by two shots. He also secured a third straight and sixth total Race to Dubai victory in the season-long series. He fished the week at 15-under par on the Earth course at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, outlasting Rasmus Hojgaard down the stretch.

The Northern Irishman went into the final round of the DP World Tour season having already wrapped up the Race to Dubai. He was miles clear of the rest of the chasing pack. Going into the week, his closest rival was South African Thriston Lawrence. This year, he came fourth at the Open Championship, backed up by top-five finishes at the British Masters, European Open and the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth. Lawrence needed to win to overhaul McIlroy at the top of the standings and hoped that the four-time major winner would finish outside the top 11. The pair played alongside each other in round one, with McIlroy opening with a 67, whilst Lawrence stumbled to a one-over-par 73. The 27-year-old from Mbombela could never get himself back into contention, finishing 30th in the 50-man field and ultimately failing on his chance to win the season-long title. Ultimately, he dropped to third in the rankings following Rasmus Hojgaard’s late charge on the weekend. However, it is still a promising season for the South Africans, who entered the fray as a top player on the DP World Tour and had several top finishes in this campaign.

Despite Rory having more or less wrapped up the Race to Dubai title by the weekend, a feat he had already achieved five times prior. First in 2012, then back in 2014 and 2015, before recent domination with 2022 and 2023 triumphs. He still expressed his desire to win the Tour Championship trophy as well, to do the double on the biggest of stages that the DP World Tour has. McIlory was always in the mix, as he generally is. All four rounds this week were in the 60s; he was also in the final pairing daily.

McIlroy began the final round with a bogey, and with Hojgaard and Frenchman Antoine Rozner lurking, it would be a tight finale. But Rory reeled off four birdies in a row to be 3-under through five. A rough patch in the middle of the round meant that all was still to play for going into the final few holes. A double bogey on the ninth from Rozner was ill-timed and plummeted him out of contention. Rasmus, whose twin brother Nicolai debuted at the Ryder Cup in Rome last year, failed to get anything going despite birdie chances being out there. Rory faltered slightly himself with two bogeys in a five-hole stretch around the turn but stiffed a wedge shot on the 16th to one foot six inches to retake a one-shot lead with two to play. McIlroy then hit a towering iron shot to close range on the difficult par-three 17th while Hojgaard hit his short of the green. When Rasmus put from off the green and left it 22 feet short, it looked like a two-shot swing could go into the 72nd hole. But Hojgaard was clutch and drained the par putt to put the pressure back on his opponent. The Northern Irishman then missed his birdie attempt on the low side, meaning the gap stayed at one.

A superb drive down the par-fie 18th form McIlroy, a low fade up the right-hand side of the fairway, left him with just over 200 yards in. Hojgaard leaked his tee shot right before putting his second long gone into the rough, short-siding. Whereas Rory missed on the right-hand side, he pitched from the first cut across the green, leaving himself a six-foot birdie. Rasmus hit an impressive lob to the middle of the green, but his errant ee shot cost him the chance to make a birdie or eagle, and his fourth shot slipped by the edge of the cup. This meant Rory McIlroy had two putts from six foot to be crowned as the champion, but he only needed one, rolling in his birdie to win by two shots, and clenching his right fist and blowing out a very relieved breath, as he just got over the line. He perhaps made it more arduous for himself than needed, but credit to Hojgaard, who battled with Rory to the finish; he made him earn it, and earn it he did.

The victory for McIlory was his fourth of 2024 and third at Jumeirah Estates. The 35-year-old also joined the great Seve Ballesteros as a six-time winner of the year-long chase. Rory was overcome with emotion following his win on Sunday, perhaps an outpouring of all the feelings he had bottled up from close calls in recent times. His runner-up finish at Pinehurst in the summer was ostensibly the worst of them all, so to see him round off his year with a meaningful win was somewhat gratifying.

Rory McIlroy has again mastered the DP World Tour, building momentum into 2025. Next on the agenda for Rory, get back into the major winner’s circle after over a decade of hurt. And what better way to do that than to claim a green jacket at Augusta in April to complete the illustrious career grand slam…