Rory McIlroy started the week at number 1 in the Race to Dubai rankings with only South African Thriston Lawrence in a position to deny him a sixth crown. Lawrence was never in contention however while McIlroy needed at worse to finish in 12th place at the DP World Tour Championship to win the season-long Race.
The Northern Irishman entered the final round in a three-way tie for the lead and bogeyed the first hole but made four consecutive birdies from the second. Two more birdies and two bogeys saw him close with a 3-under 69 to reach 15-under and win by two shots. He now matches Seve Ballesteros with six Race to Dubai titles, two behind Colin Montgomerie.
“It means a lot. I’ve been through a lot this year, professionally, personally and it feels like a fitting end to 2024,” said McIlroy.
“I’ve persevered a lot this year, had close calls and couldn’t get it done. So to be able to get over the line. I’m really pleased with the way I finished and thankfully I hung on on a tough day and got it done.
“It’s been a long year, my 27th tournament, which is a lot to me. Looking forward to a little bit of downtime.
“I have a lot of friends and my family here in Dubai so I’m sure we’ll have a good night tonight.”
Dane Rasmus Højgaard whose brother Nicolai won the event last year also started with a bogey but made only two pars for a 71 to finish runner-up at 13-under.
France’s Antoine Rozner who along with Højgaard and McIlroy shared the overnight lead opened with a birdie to take the outright lead but made just two more birdies as well as two bogeys and a double bogey at the par-4 6th to close with a 73 and a share of third place at 11-under.
Australia’s Adam Scott stayed bogey-free and along with Ireland’s Shane Lowry closed with a 68 for a share of third place.
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| Pos. | Player | To Par | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MCILROY, Rory | -15 | 67 | 69 | 68 | 69 | 273 |
| 2 | HØJGAARD, Rasmus | -13 | 71 | 67 | 66 | 71 | 275 |
| 3 | ROZNER, Antoine | -11 | 70 | 65 | 69 | 73 | 277 |
| | SCOTT, Adam | -11 | 69 | 71 | 69 | 68 | 277 |
| | LOWRY, Shane | -11 | 71 | 67 | 71 | 68 | 277 |
| 6 | HATTON, Tyrrell | -10 | 67 | 69 | 71 | 71 | 278 |
| 7 | SVENSSON, Jesper | -9 | 71 | 67 | 68 | 73 | 279 |
| | NIEMANN, Joaquin | -9 | 70 | 67 | 69 | 73 | 279 |
| | NAKAJIMA, Keita | -9 | 69 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 279 |
| | MACINTYRE, Robert | -9 | 72 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 279 |
| 11 | MCKIBBIN, Tom | -8 | 71 | 70 | 67 | 72 | 280 |
| | WALLACE, Matt | -8 | 69 | 70 | 70 | 71 | 280 |
| 13 | OTAEGUI, Adrian | -7 | 71 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 281 |
| 14 | CANTER, Laurie | -6 | 74 | 68 | 68 | 72 | 282 |
| | BAIRSTOW, Sam | -6 | 70 | 73 | 69 | 70 | 282 |
| 16 | WARING, Paul | -5 | 68 | 71 | 71 | 73 | 283 |
| | VEERMAN, Johannes | -5 | 71 | 72 | 71 | 69 | 283 |
| | FLEETWOOD, Tommy | -5 | 71 | 68 | 75 | 69 | 283 |
| 19 | MIGLIOZZI, Guido | -4 | 72 | 70 | 71 | 71 | 284 |
| | SMITH, Jordan | -4 | 71 | 73 | 70 | 70 | 284 |
| | FERGUSON, Ewen | -4 | 72 | 74 | 68 | 70 | 284 |
| | CAMPILLO, Jorge | -4 | 71 | 69 | 74 | 70 | 284 |
| | LANGASQUE, Romain | -4 | 71 | 71 | 73 | 69 | 284 |
| 24 | OLESEN, Thorbjørn | -3 | 70 | 75 | 70 | 70 | 285 |
| | LEE, Min Woo | -3 | 70 | 72 | 73 | 70 | 285 |
| FITZPATRICK, Alex | -3 | 69 | 72 | 74 | 70 | 285 | |
| | SULLIVAN, Andy | -3 | 73 | 74 | 71 | 67 | 285 |
| 28 | HOSHINO, Rikuya | -2 | 69 | 73 | 72 | 72 | 286 |
| | VAN DRIEL, Darius | -2 | 70 | 71 | 73 | 72 | 286 |
| 30 | COUSSAUD, Ugo | -1 | 72 | 69 | 70 | 76 | 287 |
| | LAWRENCE, Thriston | -1 | 73 | 71 | 68 | 75 | 287 |
| | MANASSERO, Matteo | -1 | 70 | 77 | 69 | 71 | 287 |
| | MERONK, Adrian | -1 | 70 | 73 | 73 | 71 | 287 |
| 34 | PAUL, Yannik | Par | 73 | 70 | 72 | 73 | 288 |
| | LACROIX, Frederic | Par | 72 | 72 | 71 | 73 | 288 |
| | ELVIRA, Nacho | Par | 70 | 72 | 73 | 73 | 288 |
| | GUERRIER, Julien | Par | 76 | 71 | 70 | 71 | 288 |
| | ROSE, Justin | Par | 74 | 69 | 74 | 71 | 288 |
| | JORDAN, Matthew | Par | 75 | 70 | 73 | 70 | 288 |
| 40 | NORGAARD, Niklas | +1 | 69 | 74 | 69 | 77 | 289 |
| | DEAN, Joe | +1 | 77 | 68 | 72 | 72 | 289 |
| 42 | SÖDERBERG, Sebastian | +2 | 77 | 72 | 70 | 71 | 290 |
| 43 | BROWN, Daniel | +3 | 75 | 68 | 73 | 75 | 291 |
| 44 | RAVETTO, David | +4 | 78 | 72 | 75 | 67 | 292 |
| 45 | LAPORTA, Francesco | +7 | 72 | 75 | 70 | 78 | 295 |
| 46 | BRADBURY, Dan | +8 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 71 | 296 |
| 47 | HORSCHEL, Billy | +9 | 69 | 72 | 77 | 79 | 297 |
| 48 | HIDALGO, Angel | +10 | 74 | 75 | 75 | 74 | 298 |
| 49 | COCKERILL, Aaron | +11 | 77 | 74 | 71 | 77 | 299 |
| | SYME, Connor | +11 | 71 | 76 | 75 | 77 | 299 |
Simon Bale
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