The twin peaks of achievement lured Rory McIlroy, yet again, in the desert. One proved beyond him, as Matt Fitzpatrick out-duelled him in the playoff for the season-ending DP World Tour Championship on The Earth course in Dubai. The other, though, that of winning a seventh career Harry Vardon Trophy for topping the order of merit, was accomplished in adding a further page to the Northern Irishman’s legacy in a year of years.
McIlroy, ultimately, was a clear winner of the Harry Vardon Trophy – his final points total of 5,975 some 1,967 points clear of Marco Penge – in moving away from his tie with Seve Ballesteros on six to one behind Colin Montgomerie’s record eight, a total which once seemed uncatchable. Not so much now, as McIlroy moved to, as he put it himself “touching distance.”
“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,” said McIlroy who won a fourth straight European Tour title in a year where he won the Masters to complete the career Grand Slam and the Amgen Irish Open.
Each of those wins at Augusta National and The K Club had come via a playoff, defeating Justin Rose to win the Masters and Joakim Lagergren to claim the Irish Open.
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And, for a time, there was a sense of deja vu about how matters were unfolding on The Earth course in the UAE when, just as he’d done at The K Club, McIlroy eagled the 18th – the 72nd hole of regulation – to force a playoff, his closing 67 for 18-under-par 270 putting him level with Fitzpatrick who had closed off with a 66 to set the clubhouse target.
McIlroy had seemed to have the tournament safely in his control when leading by two strokes through 11 holes of the final round – having claimed birdies at the first, second, fifth, seventh and 11th – only to hit a speed bump with a bogey on the 12th and another on the 16th, where he found a fairway bunker off the tee and came up short of the green with his next.
That sloppy play was in stark contrast, however, to how he played the 18th knowing that only an eagle would be sufficient to force the playoff with Fitzpatrick, aggressively finding the righthand fairway and then hitting a wonderful approach shot – a three-quarter 5-wood from 234 yards – to 15 feet. He rolled in the eagle, typical McIlroy really.
“I knew what I had to do. I hit a great 5-wood. Lucky to see Rasmus’s (Neergaard-Petersen) putt before mine. His hung out a little bit before it started to turn, so got a read from him. It was a great way to finish, making the playoff.,” admitted McIlroy.
The playoff would not prove to be as straightforward. Where Fitzpatrick stuck to his strategy of hitting 3-wood down the more conservative left side, McIlroy again unleashed the driver only, this time, his ball flight was immediately headed towards the creek up the centre of the divided fairways. After taking penalty relief, McIlroy’s approach then found a greenside fairway and his escape stubbornly remained on the top of the ridge. Fitzpatrick, who’d missed the green right, chipped to 18 inches. And when McIlroy’s 18 footer for par came up short, Fitzpatrick claimed the Tour Championship for a third time.
The two Ryder Cup team-mates hugged and high-fived, the embrace an acknowledgment of their bond but also that, on this day, both were winners: Fitzpatrick – who collected the winner’s cheque for €2,577,945 – of the tournament, McIlroy of the order of merit, a seventh Harry Vardon Trophy destined for a cabinet display.
Fitzpatrick’s win provided the icing on the cake for the Englishman, who struggled early in the year – he fell to 75th in the official world rankings – before rediscovering his form which earned him a place on Europe’s Ryder Cup team at Bethpage where he performed brilliantly. His playoff win over McIlroy gave him a first win on the tour since his Alfred Dunhill Links win in 2023.
“This [win] means the world. Struggled at the start of this year, obviously, and to turn it around in the summer like I did and have a Ryder Cup like I did, Ryder Cup in particular, feel like it’s hard to top given everything. 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!” said Fitzpatrick.
Shane Lowry closed out his season’s work with a finishing round of 69 for 275 in tied-11th while Tom McKibbin signed for a final round 67 for 277 in tied-16th.
Penge, who finished a distant second to McIlroy in the final order of merit standings, still had much to celebrate in claiming one of the 10 DP World Tour pathway cards on to the PGA Tour for next season.
“It’s been the year of my life. To have won three times and to be in contention as much as I have done, my game has improved so much, and I feel very proud of myself and everyone involved for helping me get to where I am today,” said Penge.
Laurie Canter, Kristopher Reitan, Adrien Saddier, Alex Noren, John Parry, Haotong Li, Keita Nakajima, Neergaard-Petersen and Jordan Smith are the other players to get those precious cards for the US circuit.
