For the second time in the past few months, Rory McIlroy produced an eagle on his 72nd hole to force a play-off, this time at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship. His record in play-offs overall is relatively poor, and before this one he had lost five out of eight on the European Tour.
However, he has won three huge play-offs in 2025, first beating J.J. Spaun to land The Players, then seeing off Justin Rose to complete the career Grand Slam by finally winning the US Masters. He then produced a moment of magic at his home Open, sinking a lengthy putt on the final hole to seal an eagle that earned him a play-off spot.
He went on to beat Swede Joakim Lagergren to claim his second Irish Open success and when he once again delivered the goods on the 72nd hole here in Dubai, he and his many fans must have expected that he would once again close things out and claim yet another big title in 2025.
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Rory Loses the Battle but Wins the War
McIlroy has had a dream year but, at least to a degree, there was no fairytale ending. He holed a 15-foot putt on the last to earn a play-off with Ryder Cup teammate Matthew Fitzpatrick. Fellow Ryder Cup heroes Ludvig Aaberg and Tommy Fleetwood were among four players who tied for third on 17 under, but having made it to 18 under, Rory must have fancied his chances against Fitzpatrick.
Instead, his play-off record on the DP World Tour slipped to played nine, lost six. The good friends set off down the 18th just moments after Rory’s three on the lengthy par five but both were exceedingly scrappy. Sheffield native Fitzpatrick found the rough off the tee but McIlroy was even worse, hitting it into the water.
Forced to take a drop, the Masters champion then hit his third out to the right and found the sand, after Fitzpatrick had rather opened the door with an imperfect lay-up shot from the rough. He could then only progress the ball to the edge of the green in three and so it was game on.
However, Rory’s hopes took a hit when he didn’t quite make the right connection from the sand and his shot came up well short. His opponent then played a fine chip from the fringe, earning a shout of “shot, Fitz” from Rory, putting his fourth shot to three feet. It was now or never for the world number two and he left his putt, from around 20 feet, just short of the hole, making a six.
Rory might have considered conceding his opponent’s putt, but Fitzpatrick would make no mistake, tapping home to secure the title with a par five. It was the third time the South Yorkshire star had won this event, the two players all smiles, sharing a warm embrace. Fitzpatrick won the title, and a tidy €2.57m, but Rory did more than enough to secure the overall crown in the Race to Dubai.
Seve Passed, Monty Next
Rory always seemed highly likely to deliver another win in what used to be called the European Order of Merit. He had a commanding lead in the season-long race to be crowned the top player on the DP World Tour and the 1,335 points (and €1.08m) he won for coming second here was more than enough to get the job done.
In the end, the Northern Irish supremo accrued 5,975 points, well clear of English golfer Marco Penge, who managed 4008. Fitzpatrick’s strong finish saw him move to 3,841 to end third, with Tyrell Hatton fourth and Fleetwood fifth.
| Position | Player | Race to Dubai Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rory McIlroy | 5,975.06 |
| 2 | Marco Penge | 4,008.04 |
| 3 | Matt Fitzpatrick | 3,841.05 |
| 4 | Tyrrell Hatton | 3,099.18 |
| 5 | Tommy Fleetwood | 2,936.72 |
| 6 | Robert MacIntyre | 2,904.39 |
| 7 | Laurie Canter | 2,899.75 |
| 8 | Kristoffer Reitan | 2,762.05 |
| 9 | Adrien Saddier | 2,643.13 |
| 10 | Alex Noren | 2,572.72 |
Rory has now won the title for the past four seasons in a row and has moved to seven wins all in. He had previously been level on six with European Tour hero and golf icon Seve Ballesteros and Rory spoke of what it meant to move past a player who is still the spiritual leader of the European Ryder Cup team.
McIlroy commented that he had spoken to Seve’s former wife, saying:
“I had a conversation with Carmen before I went out to play and she told me how proud he would have been”.
He went on to add that:
“To surpass him this year, I did not get this far in my dream.”
A clearly emotional McIlroy also spoke of wanting to go on and draw level with, and then surpass, Scottish great Colin Montgomerie.
Monty never won a major, finishing second five times, but he did land the Order of Merit on a record eight occasions. Speaking of the record he said:
“I want it. Of course I do.”
He went on to say:
“I was the first European to win the Grand Slam and I would love to be the European with the most wins in terms of the season-long races.”
We certainly won’t be betting against him!