Marvellous McIlroy seals historic Dubai double
Rory McIlroy held off Rasmus Højgaard to win the DP World Tour Championship by two strokes, sealing his sixth Race to Dubai crown in the process.
The pair produced another tight final round encounter in the final Rolex Series event of 2024 at Jumeirah Golf Estates following their back nine battle in the Amgen Irish Open in September.
It was Dane Højgaard who came out on top on that occasion, but McIlroy took the spoils this time, pulling clear with a magnificent approach shot to set up a tap in birdie on the 16th hole and finishing his 2024 season with a closing birdie on the 18th.
McIlroy’s three under par final round of 69 clinched his third victory in in the DP World Tour Championship, having previously won the title in 2012 and 2015.
On both those occasions he also won the Race to Dubai crown and he finished the season as the DP World Tour’s Number One player for a sixth time overall, matching the feat of the legendary Seve Ballesteros, with Colin Montgomerie’s record of eight now in his sights.
South African Thriston Lawrence was the only player at the start of the week who could have prevented McIlroy from winning the Race to Dubai, but he finished the tournament in a share of 30th place on one under par, 14 shots behind McIlroy winning total of 15 under par 273.
Instead, McIlroy’s main challenge came in the tournament from Højgaard, who was attempting to follow in the footsteps of his twin brother Nicolai, who won the DP World Tour Championship 12 months ago.
After bogeying the first hole, Højgaard birdied the second and seventh holes and joined McIlroy at the top of the leaderboard when the former World Number One dropped shots on the ninth and 13th holes.
While McIlroy birdied two of the final three holes, Højgaard could not pick up any further shots on the way in, closing out his round of 71 with 11 straight pars to finish runner up on 13 under par. That was enough to move him past Lawrence into second place in the final Race to Dubai rankings though, meaning he claimed the first of the ten PGA TOUR cards on offer, having missed out by one spot last year.
The other nine players to secure dual membership on the PGA TOUR are: Lawrence (third on the Race to Dubai) England’s Paul Waring (fifth), Sweden’s Jesper Svensson (tenth), Denmark’s Niklas Norgaard (11th), Italy’s Matteo Manassero (12th), Denmark’s Thorbjørn Olesen (13th), France’s Antoine Rozner (15th), Japan’s Rikuya Hoshino (16th) and Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin (18th).
For McIlroy though, it was a fitting way to end the 2024 season during which he has won four times worldwide, including twice on the DP World Tour in Dubai, having also triumphed in the Hero Dubai Desert Classic in January.
The four-time Major Champion’s consistency this season is underlined by his record of eight top five finishes in 12 DP World Tour appearances in 2024, finishing runner four times, in the Dubai Invitational, US Open, Amgen Irish Open and the BMW PGA Championship.
Rory McIlroy
“It means a lot. I’ve been through a lot this year professionally, personally. It feels like the fitting end to 2024. You know, I’ve persevered this year a lot. Had close calls. Wasn’t able to get it done.
“So to be able to get over the line – I off to a great start and didn’t have my best in the middle of the round and Rasmus and I both struggled to get momentum.
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“I thought saving par on 15 was huge. I made four great swings coming in, the wedge on 16, the shot on 18 and two shots on the last. Really pleased with the way I finished and thankfully I hung on a tough day and got it done.
“It’s really cool (to win a sixth Race to Dubai). I think everyone know what Seve means to European golf and to Ryder Cup players. In the European Ryder Cup locker room, all we have are quotes of Seve. We had a changing room with Seve’s shirt from ’95, the last Ryder Cup he played. He means so much to European golf and for me to be mentioned in the same breath, I’m very proud.”
