Rory McIlroy was crowned King of European golf for a third occasion in the past four years winning the Race to Dubai title and also capturing a second DP World Tour Championship also in four years.
McIlroy was in a class of his own coming from one shot back heading to the last day of the season’s final event and absorbing everything young Englishman Andy Sullivan threw at him.
The only real hiccup for McIlroy, who has now won four times in Dubai, was finding the water at the penultimate hole for bogey to eventually win by a stroke with a round of 66 for a 21-under par tally.
McIlroy silenced any threat from nearest Race to Dubai rival Danny Willett who bogeyed two of his three closing holes in a score of 70 for a share of fourth place but with a distant 13-under par on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Estates course.
McIlroy, who will remain at World No. 3, earned a first prize cheque of Euro 1,230,972 to take his European Tour career earnings alone to over Euro 27m
Willett into the season finale trailing Euro 1,633 adrift of McIlroy and with the four-time Major winning McIlroy ending the year Euro 156,943 in front.
“To be European No. 1 for a third time in four years was a goal of mine at start of the year, in the middle of the year, and coming here this week,” he said.
Rory McIlroy saves the best for last capturing a third Race to Dubai title in four years. (PHoto – Fran Caffrey/www.golffile.ie)
“Of course, I am grateful to the European Tour for allowing me to be part of the Final Four Series and letting me play this week even though I didn’t quite play the minimum number of events I was still able to take part.
“So it’s been a great was to finishing the year and I am now looking forward to playing a full European Tour schedule in 2016.”
McIlroy will spend the next eight weeks or so more in the gym than on any practice range working on building back the strength in his leg and also promising there will be no off-season social football matches.
“I want to try to get healthier and stronger again and get my body back to where it was before the injury as I haven’t been able to do that over the past few months,” he said.
“So I’ve got eight weeks to stop worry about being sore and my body aching in playing a round of golf.
“I also put a new driver and ball into the bag a few weeks ago in Turkey so I am really happy with that and it means I will not have to tinker with my equipment before coming back out here to Dubai early in January and start to get serious about season 2016.
“And after what transpired this year winning here again in Dubai is the happiest I feel I’ve been on a golf course since May when I last win in winning the Wells Fargo Championship.
“So in golfing terms I am really happy because in the last few events I’ve come off the golf course frustrated and feeling like I could have done better.
“But then I guess I have saved the best for last and I finally showed this week what was in there, and I just needed to find something to be able to let it out.”
