Rory McIlroy finished the year as Europe’s No. 1 golfer for the fourth time — and first since 2015 — despite John Rahm winning the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai on Sunday.
The Spaniard’s victory was his third in six years at Jumeirah Golf Estates, beating England’s Tyrell Hatton and Sweden’s Alex Noren by two shots.
McIlroy finished DP World Ranking after his only rival, Matt Fitzpatrick, exploded around the turn.
Fitzpatrick needed to win and McIlroy needed to not finish runner-up or finish second and McIlroy out of the top seven.
But none of those situations turned out to be the case for Fitzpatrick, who was three out of the lead when he played the eighth, ended his chances with a double-bogey and then another shot at the 10th.
McIlroy needed none of the fireworks of the previous day compared to his 65, and could have tied Rahm at 20 under, but could only have managed a six-under 68 if he had made a final eagle. Birdies and four bogeys to finish fourth.
McIlroy, who won his third PGA Tour FedEx Cup in August, told Sky Sports Television: “It means a lot. It’s been seven years since I last did it. I’ve won three FedEx Cups since the last time I won.”
“It would have been nice to get one win at the end of the year but John played an incredible tournament and he fully deserved it.”
Rahm, the first player to win the tournament three times, started the final day with a one-shot lead and opened with two straight birdies to double the lead.
Fitzpatrick’s 28-foot birdie at the third put him 15 under and in two, but things began to unravel with a bogey at the short sixth and, although he almost immediately backed off a putt, the awful eighth finally did for his hopes.
His driver landed in a deep hole in the desert, his shot failed to clear the rough, flew off the green and put his chip after the tee for two-for-six.
That put him five behind and after he missed his fairway on the 10th, he dropped another shot and finished with a 13 seven adrift and the challenge ended.
McIlroy, who had three birdies and a bogey in the first four holes, had only trouble on the eighth when he saved his birdie effort from 56 feet from the flag wood.
He three-bogeyed the ninth green, but it wasn’t the only one, as Hutton made his only bogey in his round of 66.
