A tearful Rory McIlroy captured a record-equalling eighth Race to Dubai title and unexpectedly dedicated his finish to his recovering father, Gerry.
It was during a SKY Sports interview immediately post his final round of a five-under 67 that McIlroy revealed Gerry, who had a double lung transplant at the end of September, has been since been in a Cleveland hospital recovering from the operation.
The question caught all off-guard, including McIlroy who quickly welled-up with tears.
RORS OWES IT ALL TO HIS FATHER, GERRY ….
With @McIlroyRory dedicating his record-equalling eighth #RaceToDubai triumph to his recovering father, Gerry
“My dad is a massive part of my life and has been my biggest supporter,” said McIlroy.
“He is the one that got me into the game and the one that told me to follow my dreams and never give up and never think that you’re not good enough.
“It’s obviously been difficult. He has been living with this for 18 months, and it got to the point where the last resort was a transplant. Thankfully, the operation was a success and he’s recovering well.
“It’s been a stressful time for our family. If things were not looking as good as they were, I probably wouldn’t have felt comfortable travelling or being too far away”.
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SKY
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“My dad is a massive part of my life and has been my biggest supporter,” said McIlroy.
“He is the one that got me into the game and the one that told me to follow my dreams and never give up and never think that you’re not good enough.
“It’s obviously been difficult. He has been living with this for 18 months, and it got to the point where the last resort was a transplant. Thankfully, the operation was a success and he’s recovering well.
“It’s been a stressful time for our family. If things were not looking as good as they were, I probably wouldn’t have felt comfortable travelling or being too far away.
“I went up to see him before I left for Abu Dhabi a couple of weeks ago, and he said to me, ‘Rors, go and win me The Race to Dubai’. That was in my head for the last two weeks, and I really wanted to do it for him.”
RORS: ‘I OWE IT ALL TO MY FATHER’ …
As @McIlroyRory reveals in a shock SKY interview he has been visiting his father, Gerry in a Cleveland hospital.
Gerry has been hospital-bound recovering since last September from double lung transplant operation
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— Fatiha (@TOURMISS) November 15, 2026
And McIlroy’s second place finish in Dubai was good enough to capture an eighth Race To Dubai victory in just his 13 Tour start and 18 less touranments than runner-up Eugenio Chacarra of Spain.
Chacarra had held a slender 533.93-point lead over McIlroy going into the season finale at Jumeirah Golf Estates, but the Northern Irishman overturned that deficit after a blemish-free fourth round of 67 saw him finish on 10 under par, on his own in second, to take a fifth successive Race to Dubai crown.
It all came down to the 18th hole, where McIlroy made a disappointing par to finish on 10-under par, but that was good enough for a solo second place.
That took his ranking points to 5,044.86. Chacarra also could not get a birdie on the final hole and closed with a 69 for a tied third place at eight-under alongside Finland’s Oliver Lindell (65).
Chacarra’s final round featured six birdies but also three bogeys in a score of 69 to share third place with Finland’s Oliver Lindell.
“It was a good fight. I just came out short,” said Chacarra.
“Obviously, when you play with the best in the world, and he’s played here 14, 15 times, you knew it was going to be tough, and he had a better day than I did.”
