DP World Tour Championship: Rory McIlroy beaten by Matt Fitzpatrick in play-off after dramatic finish to Race to Dubai season

Rory McIlroy forced a play-off with a final-hole eagle before Matt Fitzpatrick won the DP World Tour Championship; McIlroy wins the Race to Dubai for a four consecutive year and seventh time in his career; Ryder Cup stars Ludvig Åberg and Tommy Fleetwood end part of a share of third

 

 

Rory McIlroy secured the Race to Dubai for the fourth year running despite narrowly missing out to Matt Fitzpatrick in a thrilling finish to the DP World Tour Championship.

An incredible final day of the DP World Tour season saw a host of players challenging for victory at Jumeirah Golf Estates, where Matt Fitzpatick broke clear of a congested leaderboard to close a bogey-free 66 and set the clubhouse target at 18 under.

McIlroy started with a share of the lead and briefly let a two-shot advantage slip during the back nine, only to deliver a dramatic 15-foot eagle on the final hole to force his Ryder Cup team-mate into extra holes.

The players returned to the par-five 18th for a play-off, where McIlroy found water with his tee shot and Fitzpatrick’s poor approach left both players missing the green with their third shot.

The world No 2 splashed out of the greenside bunker to 20 feet but missed his putt for par, as Fitzpatrick got up and down to close out his first worldwide title victory since October 2023 and secure the season finale for a third time.

 

 

McIlroy’s runner-up finish extended his winning margin in the season-long Race to Dubai standings, ensuring he would win the Harry Vardon Trophy for a seventh time and move within one of Colin Montgomerie’s record of eight Order of Merit titles.

Fellow Ryder Cup stars Ludvig Åberg and Tommy Fleetwood shared third place with Laurie Canter and Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, while Rasmus Hojgaard finished three strokes back in seventh ahead of Robert MacIntyre, Angel Ayora and Haotong Li.

Sixteen players went into the final day within three strokes of the lead, with Haotong Li’s four birdies in the first five holes and Canter’s fast start lifting both ahead of McIlroy before the overnight co-leader had teed off.

McIlroy quickly hit the front with a birdie-birdie start before adding another from close range at the fifth and taking advantage of the par-five seventh, which moved him two ahead when Canter followed four birdies in his first seven holes by three-putting the eighth for bogey.

Fitzpatrick, whose victory follows previous Dubai titles in 2016 and 2020, added: “It [winning] means the world. Struggled at the start of this year and to turn it around in the summer like I did and have a Ryder Cup like I did, feel like it’s hard to top.

 

 

“The way that I played today, you know, I feel like I really didn’t hit one bad shot all day. I’m so proud of myself, the effort that everyone puts in behind the scenes. What a feeling.”