One by one, the present and the future of Irish golf hugged one another. Rory McIlroy had just wrapped up the season-ending DP World Tour Championship on The Earth course in Dubai to also claim a sixth Harry Vardon Trophy of his career for topping the order of merit and the first two men to embrace him were Shane Lowry and Tom McKibbin.
Celebrations all round, if truth be told: Lowry’s third-place finish behind McIlroy brought its own end to a consistent season for the Offalyman and garnered him a clutch of Ryder Cup points, while McKibbin – just 21 years old and a something of a childhood prodigy himself in following McIlroy’s footsteps at Holywood Golf Club – had earned a full PGA Tour card to play on the US circuit next season.
That’s a huge achievement for McKibbin in obtaining that card stateside so quickly, having navigated the pitfalls of his fledging professional life with aplomb in progressively moving on from the Challenge Tour to the DP World Tour and now a dual card on both the European and US circuits.
The trio each had their own accomplishments to take with them from the DP World Tour’s finale, although McIlroy – once again – was the player with most to take away from the desert.
The visuals of McIlroy collecting both the trophy as tournament winner and also the Race to Dubai trophy for a sixth order of merit (equalling Seve Ballesteros and moving just two behind all-time winner Colin Montgomerie) told one part of the story, but the emotions displayed by the Northern Irishman revealed even more.
As he spoke to Sky Sport’s Tim Barter by the 18th green with barely time for it all to sink in, McIlroy explained:
“I think everyone know what Seve means to European golf and to Ryder Cup players. In the European Ryder Cup locker room, all we have are quotes of Seve. We had a changing room with Seve’s shirt from ‘95, the last Ryder Cup he played ... he means so much to European golf and for me to be mentioned in the same breath, I’m very proud.”
And, of the challenge of pursuing Montgomerie for the all-time order of merits on the DP World Tour, McIlroy added: “I’m up for it. I’ve just won my third in a row, and I’ve really made it a priority of my schedule over the last few years to give myself the best chance coming into the end of the year to win the Race to Dubai. I don’t see that being any different for the foreseeable future. I’m going to go for my seventh next year and try to chase Monty down!”
McIlroy’s final round 69 for a total of 15-under-par 273 gave him a two-strokes winning margin over Rasmus Hojgaard (and a modicum of revenge for losing out to the Dane at the Amgen Irish Open) while Lowry’s birdie-birdie finish for a 68 for 277 lifted him to third.
McKibbin, crucially, birdied the 18th hole for a 72 for 280 in tied-11th which enabled him to move ahead of Jordan Smith to claim the 10th of those PGA Tour cards through the strategic alliance pathway between the two tours.
Lowry stressed just how big McIlroy’s achievements of 2024 – in a year where he won four times and yet suffered so many near-misses, most notably at the US Open in Pinehurst and the Irish Open at Royal County Down – should be regarded:
“Unfortunately for Rory, I think everybody looks at the glass half-empty. I look at it glass half-full. He’s had an amazingly consistent year. I’ve had a consistent year, but he’s had consistent top three finishes. Mine are Top 15s.
“[He’s had] four wins around the world ... he probably should have won the US Open, let’s be honest, and he’d say that himself, but he didn’t. I think he is more determined than ever to come out firing next year, and obviously the Masters will be on the forefront of his mind, and same as myself, he’ll be looking towards the other big tournaments and the Ryder Cup.”
And McIlroy will have added company stateside next season, with McKibbin joining the band. Some private words were whispered into McKibbin’s ears between the 18th green and the score recorders.
McKibbin, certainly, will relish the chance to take his game on a continued upwards trajectory. “It seems like I like to play on some of the harder courses and that suits my game a little more, so it will be exciting to get over there and see how it goes,” he said.
