Rory McIlroy has had a rollercoaster of a season, featuring plenty more lows than highs.
His loss at Pinehurst No. 2, where he missed two putts inside of five feet on holes 16 and 18, immediately comes to mind. So does his missed cut at The Open, where the blustery Ayrshire conditions wreaked havoc on his mind and game. Another pivotal gut punch came during the final round of the Olympics, when he hit a poor wedge shot that plunged into the pond on the 15th hole, thus ruining his chances of reaching the podium. He experienced heartbreak at Royal County Down and Wentworth over the past couple of months, too.
It’s been an agonizing year for McIlroy, one that has featured plenty of hubbub off the course related to LIV Golf and, unfortunately, his personal life as well.
And yet, the Northern Irishman has all but locked up a sixth Race to Dubai title on the DP World Tour, an impressive accomplishment matched by Seve Ballesteros. Only Colin Montgomerie has won more Order of Merits with eight.
McIlroy’s season began with a runner-up finish to Tommy Fleetwood at the Dubai Invitational in January—another agonizing finish, if I may add—and then he bounced back by winning the Hero Dubai Desert Classic for a fourth time the following week. In his six other starts on the DP World Tour this year, McIlroy posted five top-5s, with the outlier being the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, where he tied for 25th.
“It’s a huge honor,” said McIlroy on Wednesday.
“It really is a huge honor. Every time that I come back and play on the [DP World Tour], I’m proud to be a member, and I’m proud to support as much as I can. If I were to win The Race to Dubai for a sixth time, that would be a really cool achievement for me.”
Through 36 holes of this week’s DP World Tour Championship, McIlroy sits one stroke off the lead held by Frenchman Antoine Rozner. McIlroy is at 8-under-par, thanks to an opening round 67 and a 3-under 69 on day two. And yet, given his massive advantage in the Race to Dubai standings, he knows the season-long title will be his. So, he wants to cap off this crazy year on a high note with one more victory over an elite field on the Earth Course at the Jumeirah Golf Estates.
“I’m just trying to win the golf tournament,” McIlroy said Friday.
“[That’s] my focus. I’d love to get my third title here at the Earth Course, and if I can do that, then everything else will be great.”
The Northern Irishman got off to a roaring start on Friday, making four birdies over his first seven holes. But two bogies on the 8th and 10th holes completely stalled his momentum.
“Three holes in a row I hit it off a fairway and made two bogeys, 8, 9, and 10,” McIlroy explained.
“Steadied the ship a little bit, but a couple of chances went by on 14 and 15.”
The last three holes on the Earth Course feature plenty of trouble, but McIlroy managed to play this final stretch in 1-under, thanks to a closing birdie on 18.
Although, after hitting his tee shot, McIlroy felt that he had found the water on 18, the hole that Tyrrell Hatton gripped about on Friday. But McIlroy luckily escaped the trouble, as his ball came to rest a mere feet from the penalty area. He then launched his second shot on the green and two-putted for birdie.
“It was nice to finish with a birdie and at least shoot something in the 60s after the start that I had,” McIlroy said.
“But yeah, look, I’m so comfortable around this place, and I’ve had success before. So I’m liking my chances going into the weekend.”
And he should.
Would a win in Dubai this week avenge all the despair he suffered earlier this year? Absolutely not. But it would give him a much-needed momentum boost going into 2025, a season in which he hopes to match Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele.
A season-ending win would also give McIlroy plenty of reason to smile, which he has unfortunately not done very often over the past 10 months.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
