Rory McIlroy is headed into a fortnight in the desert to complete his season’s work on the DP World Tour. First, in this week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and then next week’s Tour Championship in Dubai, as he looks to claim a seventh Harry Vardon Trophy – which would place him just one behind Colin Montgomerie’s record eight on the all-time list.
In a season which saw him complete the career Grand Slam at the Masters, and also claim the Amgen Irish Open, McIlroy is in the familiar territory of leading the order of merit with only the two Rolex Series events remaining. Although England’s Marco Penge, in a breakout year that has seen him win three times, remains in touching distance with hopes of landing the accolade.
McIlroy – who is also entered to play in next month’s Australian Open in closing out the competitive year – is one of three Irish players in the UAE, with Tom McKibbin aiming to maintain the momentum of his win in the Link Hong Kong Open on the Asian Tour, and Shane Lowry looking to make the most of his special exemption into the two tournaments as a member of Europe’s winning Ryder Cup team.
In all, eight members of Luke Donald’s team – McIlroy, Lowry, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Ludvig Åberg, Matt Fitzpatrick, Rasmus Højgaard and Robert MacIntyre – are competing in the two-tournament finale to the season.
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McIlroy has identified catching and passing Montgomerie’s eight Order of Merits as one of his remaining career goals, another being to surpass Nick Faldo’s six Major title wins which makes him the leading European. McIlroy has five Majors on his CV.
For now, the Order of Merit title is the one that is within reach. On winning a sixth title last year, McIlroy had observed: “I’ve come this far, I might as well try and get to eight or nine. Getting to six and three-in-a-row, and prioritising The Race to Dubai and DP World Tour and trying to achieve something that no one else in the game has achieved if I am to surpass Monty.
“But I’ve got a good 10 years left, I think. Look, again, the other thing is, who knows what the world of golf looks like in a few years’ time. But as long as The Race to Dubai is happening and there’s an Order of Merit and we’re on this tour, I’m going to want it.”
McIlroy’s deeds this year – in achieving wins on the PGA Tour (Pebble Beach, The Players, the Masters) and on the DP World Tour (Irish Open) along with an away win in the Ryder Cup – have certainly justified his decision to change his playing schedule to a somewhat reduced one to fit his needs, those series of Ws providing the hard proof and rewards.
Ahead of these two final events of the DP World Tour in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, McIlroy has a healthy – if surmountable – 441 points lead over Penge, 4,132 points to 3,691.
There are an elevated 9,000 Race to Dubai ranking points on offer at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship (1,500 to the winner), while there are 12,000 available at the DP World Tour Championship (2,000 to the winner), with players awarded a share of the points based on their finishing position in each tournament. So, mathematically, McIlroy still has work to do to close the deal.
Meanwhile, the Ladies European Tour also has two tournaments remaining on the schedule, with this week’s Aramco China Championship in Mission Hills providing a dual team and individual element.
Lauren Walsh, currently 10th in the standings, and rookie Anna Foster, who is 40th, are the two Irish players in the limited field in China and both assured of making it to the Andalucia finale later this month.
