DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Rory McIlroy's banner year in golf ended with fitting drama Sunday when he eagled the last hole in regulation to force a playoff but lost out to Matt Fitzpatrick, who won the season-closing World Tour Championship for a third time.
The consolation for McIlroy? A fourth straight Race to Dubai title — crowning him as the year's No. 1 player on the European tour — to add to his wins at the Masters to complete the career Grand Slam, The Players Championship and his home Irish Open. McIlroy also helped Team Europe win an away Ryder Cup.
All of his big individual victories came in playoffs but a final one proved just beyond the Northern Irishman, though, after he hit his drive into a creek on the first playoff hole – No. 18 – and made bogey. Fitzpatrick chipped to 3 feet and rolled in a par putt to win the title again at Jumeirah Golf Estates, after 2016 and 2020.
“You never like to see the way it ends, but obviously delighted,” Fitzpatrick said after sealing his first win in two years.
McIlroy generated the biggest roar of the day when he poured in a 15-footer for eagle on No. 18 to complete a round of 5-under 67 and join Fitzpatrick (66) on 18-under par for the week. He also eagled the last at the Irish Open in September to force a playoff before going on to beat Sweden’s Joakim Lagergren at The K Club.
“In typical Rory fashion, he did it again,” said Fitzpatrick, who watched it unfold while sitting in the scorer's hut. He met McIlroy outside, shaking his hand and giving his Ryder Cup teammate a hug.
They did so again after the playoff — which finished with both of them as winners.
Chasing Monty
For McIlroy, it's a seventh Race to Dubai title, putting him one clear of the late Seve Ballesteros and one behind Colin Montgomerie's record haul.
“I didn’t get this far in my dreams, so it’s very cool," said McIlroy, who revealed that he spoke to Ballesteros' wife, Carmen, before his round on Sunday.
“It seems within touching distance now,” he added about catching Montgomerie. “I’d love to be the winningest European in terms of Order of Merits and season-long races. You know, I’ve probably got a few more good years left in me, and hopefully I can catch him and surpass him.”
Wild finish
Nine players either led or held a share of the lead across a wild few hours at the Earth course that culminated in Fitzpatrick making three birdies in his final five holes to overtake McIlroy and overhaul a slew of Europe’s other stars, including Tommy Fleetwood and Ludvig Åberg.
A birdie putt from 6 feet at No. 18 took Fitzpatrick a stroke clear of Fleetwood (67), Åberg (66) and Laurie Canter (67) and two ahead of McIlroy, who was waiting in the 18th fairway knowing he now needed to make eagle.
He hit a fairway wood from around 230 yards to the right of the pin, got a good read from playing partner Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, who was a few feet further away, and drained the putt.
Neergaard-Petersen (68) made birdie to join the group on 17 under, in a tie for third.
Season turnaround
Fitzpatrick, the U.S. Open champion in 2022, started the season slowly but finished it strong, getting into the Ryder Cup team on the back of top-10 finishes at the British Masters in August and the European Masters and BMW PGA Championship in September. He then won 2 1/2 points from his four matches at Bethpage Black.
“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 given everything,” Fitzpatrick said.
“But the way that I played today, 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. Yeah, what a feeling.”
PGA Tour cards
Marco Penge might not have chased down McIlroy in the Race to Dubai standings this week but he was still smiling after his round of 67.
It completed a breakthrough year that has seen him take one of the PGA Tour cards on offer for the top 10 players in the Race to Dubai standings who are not otherwise exempt.
The other nine players wound up being Canter, Kristoffer Reitan, Adrien Saddier, Alex Noren, John Parry, Li Haotong, Keita Nakajima, Jordan Smith and Neergaard-Petersen. They will be dual members of the two established tours.
Playing alongside McIlroy in the final group, Neergaard-Petersen needed to play the last five holes in 5 under to be one of the 10. He went eagle-birdie-par-birdie-birdie to do so.
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