The DP World Tour Championship got underway on Thursday, at the renowned Jumeirah Estates Earth Course. This is one of the biggest events on the European Tour and is the conclusion of the Race to Dubai.
The Race to Dubai is akin to the FedEx Cup on the PGA Tour and replaced the Order of Merit in 2009. It is the culmination of a season’s work and sees the best European players, plus plenty from further afield, duke it out for the honour of being the tour’s top player.
Over the years, all the biggest and best names from European golf have won the award. Back when it was known as the Order of Merit, the likes of Seve Ballesteros, Greg Norman, Sandy Lyle, Bernhard Langer and Nick Faldo all won it multiple times. Then in 1993, Colin Montgomerie, perhaps the best player never to win a major, won it an incredible seven years in a row from 1993, adding an eighth title in 2005.
Ernie Els and Retief Goosen both claimed back-to-back wins in the early years of the 21st century, but in this article, we will focus on those who have taken glory since it became the Race to Dubai.
| Year | Winner | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Rory McIlroy | Northern Ireland |
| 2023 | Rory McIlroy | Northern Ireland |
| 2022 | Rory McIlroy | Northern Ireland |
| 2021 | Collin Morikawa | USA |
| 2020 | Lee Westwood | England |
| 2019 | Jon Rahm | Spain |
| 2018 | Francesco Molinari | Italy |
| 2017 | Tommy Fleetwood | England |
| 2016 | Henrik Stenson | Sweden |
| 2015 | Rory McIlroy | Northern Ireland |
| 2014 | Rory McIlroy | Northern Ireland |
| 2013 | Henrik Stenson | Sweden |
| 2012 | Rory McIlroy | Northern Ireland |
| 2011 | Luke Donald | England |
| 2010 | Martin Kaymer | Germany |
| 2009 | Lee Westwood | England |
2009 Sees Lee Westwood Crowned
The way in which Europe’s best golfer has been anointed has varied over the years. At different times, the standings have gone by various names, with different methods used (chiefly either points or prize money). However, in 2009, we saw a major change, with the Order of Merit becoming the Race to Dubai.
Lee Westwood, another contender for the greatest player without a major, had won the former for the first time in 2000. He added a second win in 2009, becoming the first player to win the Race to Dubai. Westwood was playing the best golf of his career at this stage and saw off Rory McIlroy and Martin Kaymer, in large part down to his win in the DP World Tour Championship.
In October of 2010, he became the number one-ranked golfer in the world, staying there for 17 weeks, before Kaymer usurped him. In April 2011, Westy then had another five weeks at the top. However, it was the German Kaymer who would lift the 2010 Race to Dubai title, despite finishing down in 13th in the season-ending clash in Dubai. Westwood would go on to add a third Race to Dubai success in 2020.
Rory Roars
Rory McIlroy was clearly already a fantastic player, but in 2011 he won his first major, and his game went to a new level. Luke Donald was the Race to Dubai champion that year and had various spells as world number one in 2011 and 2012, but it was clear that Rory was the star of the future.
The Northern Irish ace ascended to the top of the rankings in March 2012 and would win his second major that year, adding two more in 2014. These and other big wins saw him win the Race to Dubai in 2012, 2014 and 2015, although Henrik Stenson was the champion for the first time in 2013, winning again in 2016.
McIlroy claimed a fourth win in 2022 and then triumphed again in 2023. In 2024, helped by wins in both the Dubai Desert Classic and the DP World Tour Championship, he made it three in a row. That put him level with European Tour icon Ballesteros on six Order of Merit/Race to Dubai wins.
He led the way coming into the final tournament in 2025 too, and over the next few days it would be a surprise were he not to be crowned champ once again. Victory this year would leave him on seven victories and just one short of joining Scot Montgomerie as the most successful European player ever. It is surely only a matter of time before Rory matches and then surpasses the incredible record of the man who never won a major but has, at least, won three on the Senior Tour.
Wins for Europe’s Best… and Collin Morikawa
After Stenson’s win in 2016, we saw some of the best European players of recent times lift the title. In 2017, Tommy Fleetwood triumphed after a remarkably consistent year. In 2018, it was Francesco Molinari’s turn, with Jon Rahm claiming his second of three wins in the DP World Tour Championship to pip Fleetwood, who had been set to win a second Race.
As said, Westwood won in 2020 and in 2021, we saw US star Collin Morikawa take glory. The LA native won the season-ending tournament in Europe and that, along with victory in the Open Championship that year, saw him become the first non-European to win in the Race to Dubai era and the first overall since Ernie Els in 2004. Interestingly, another US player, Billy Horschel, was second.
Since 2022, it has been the Rory show, and that seems set to continue in 2025, despite him playing fewer events than almost all of his rivals. Let’s see what happens in Dubai in the next three days and see if anyone can stop McIlroy from making it four in a row.